


one needs many needles to create pretty art

by essiisse



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Boys Kissing, Canon Universe, Drinking, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Piercer Yamaguchi Tadashi, Rare Pairings, Sexual Content, Tattoo Artist Terushima Yuuji, Tattoos, tadashi is a confident boy, yuuji is a dork in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/essiisse/pseuds/essiisse
Summary: Piercer Tadashi is looking for a job and Yuuji owns a tattoo parlor.Years later, Yamaguchi Tadashi and Terushima Yuuji meet outside of the high school context, and bond over body art, carbs and volleyball.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Terushima Yuuji/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 48
Kudos: 504
Collections: HQ Feels (Mostly M or E), Lovely Fics I gotta reread





	one needs many needles to create pretty art

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a self indulgent fic, because i love tattoo aus so much and recently discovered that i am a sucker for rare pairings, so yeah, i have to write my own stuff to have content for those pairs lmao... anyway, i had fun writing this and i hope you enjoy it as well :)
> 
> btw, there's explicit sexual content in this fic, so if you don't wanna read it stop reading on "With that, they slowly started to rub their groins" and return after the "-" that separates the change in pov. there's also a talk about dick piercings on the part that starts with "Yuuji was working on a commission for a client" but it's only a talk and it's all fun and games. also, when i refer to yamaguchi as 'tadashi' that's his pov, as well as when i refer to terushima as 'yuuji' that's his.
> 
> without further ado, enjoy the reading! \o/

Yuuji thought he had it pretty good.

He was a young man, barely past his twenty-six years old, and he was able to financially support himself by doing what he loved the most. Yuuji even owned his own tattoo parlor, which, he proudly got to say, had its schedule full for weeks ahead. He worked with the company of his best friends and lived his weekdays like they were weekends, going out for beers on Wednesdays and making his routine as he pleased, one day at a time.

So yes, he had it pretty good.

That is, until he hired piercer Yamaguchi Tadashi, former pinch server of Karasuno Volleyball Team and current employee of Playground Tattoo Parlor, to work under the same roof as him.

Yamaguchi came on a warm spring day, at a late afternoon – when the weather was just perfectly pleasant, not overly hot and accompanied by a cool, nice breeze –, interested in the add Yuuji had posted on the studio’s social media that they were looking for piercers to hire. That first day, he reminded Yuuji of a spring day himself, dressed casually in an oversized t-shirt with funny prints and summer sandals, longish hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.

It hadn’t taken long to Yuuji recognize Yamaguchi as a former member of Karasuno Volleyball Team, the team that busted their way forward and grabbed their tickets to nationals back when Yuuji was in his second year of high school. They made small talk about volleyball over cold lemonades in the back room as Yuuji looked over the brief résumé Yamaguchi had put together to apply for the job, listing his experiences and the courses he had taken on the matter.

“This seems nice, Yamaguchi-san.” Yuuji said, dropping the files on the table between them and taking a sip of his lemonade. “But I don’t really care about this stuff.”

Yamaguchi gazed at him in interest and confusion, probably wondering why the guy that was hiring him seemed unbothered by his experience on the field or lack of. Nevertheless, he remained silent, waiting for Yuuji to finish.

“I want to get a new piercing, you know, on my right ear.” It was feeling a bit naked over there. While his left ear was full of silver jewelry, the right one had only one piercing beside his regular earring hole that he had for ages. “So I was thinking you could do it for me, as a demonstration of your skills or something, and we can take it from there.”

“Oh! …oh! You want me to pierce your ear?” Yamaguchi asked, surprised. His right hand immediately came up to rub at his nape, freeing some short locks that curled over the freckled skin of his neck. “What, um, today?”

“Yeah! I mean, we can also wait and do it on another day if you want.”

“What? No… yeah, let’s do it today. It’s okay with me.”

Yamaguchi was shy, yes, and maybe a little bit clumsy with his words, but with gloves on his hands and a needle between his fingers, he was confident and precise. Yuuji was able to tell that even before Yamaguchi had sterilized his ear with alcohol, just by watching him moving around the room and dealing with the materials. After handing him the new jewelry, Yuuji told him he wanted a _forward helix_ and settled onto the chair on his left side, being in this situation so many times it was already second nature to him.

It was a mystery, but even with latex gloves, Yamaguchi’s hands were warm on the skin of his ear and neck, firm but also oh so gentle, it almost felt like a tickle. And then the familiar pain of a needle breaking through the flesh was quick and accurate, followed by the jewelry being locked into place.

“There, all set.” Yamaguchi said, taking the gloves off and throwing the garbage inside the bin strategically placed there for that purpose.

Yuuji leaped out of the chair and walked towards the mirror on the wall, turning his head in order to have a better look at his new piercing. The skin of his ear was red and the burning was slowly subsiding, but what caught his attention was how the little silver square looked good there and how the perforation was clean and well made.

“This looks so cool! Thanks a lot, Yamaguchi.”

“It does look nice. The jewelry is very pretty as well so…”

“You have a good hand at it. I barely felt anything.” Yuuji commented. He was still admiring Yamaguchi’s work when he decided, then and there, that he was hiring the other man. Yuuji was always known for his impulsiveness, after all. “So yeah! I guess you are our new member here, if you want to work with us.”

Yamaguchi looked at him with surprise coating his eyes, and a second later he was furiously nodding his head. “Yes, sure! I would like that. Very much so.”

“Then welcome aboard, man!” Yuuji said happily, casually slapping Yamaguchi’s back in a friendly manner. At the end of the day, Yuuji was a friendly guy and a touchy person, and he quickly warmed up to people.

“Thanks!” Yamaguchi grinned, content to have nailed himself the job, but also somehow affected by Yuuji’s own enthusiasm.

Yuuji looked at Yamaguchi, watching the cheerful grin on his lips and the way he looked down, freckled cheeks barely flushed. It was in that moment, while telling Yamaguchi that he would introduce him to the rest of the crew and that they could solve the bureaucracy later, that Yuuji realized he was well and truly fucked.

Yamaguchi Tadashi was one cute boy. 

Since then, Yuuji was uncertain of his “pretty good” situation, questioning if hiring Yamaguchi was a blessing or a curse someone had summoned upon him, seeing as the younger man was a breath of fresh air to work with but also sometimes suffocating, for so he was so damn cute.

–

“You know, I am so grateful for the seconds it takes to do a piercing on someone every time I see you walk out of a five hour appointment.” Yamaguchi said, lounging in the small couch they had at the studio’s entrance and scrolling aimlessly through his phone.

“Ugh…!” Yuuji groaned loud, stretching his arms and popping some joints, fatigue clearly sneaking into his limbs. “I don’t feel like a human being right now.”

Yamaguchi laughed at that, loud and bright, and ok, how could Yuuji keep a scowl on his face for much longer after that, huh? “Come on, I’ll make you some tea for you to feel better.”

“Yama, how could I possibly have tea right now? It’s so hot.” Yuuji whined, but he would not be able to deny that the prospect of a relaxing tea was indeed tempting.

“I’ll make it iced.” Yamaguchi replied, getting up and beckoning him to the back room, a little smile of sympathy thrown over his shoulder.

“Oh my, you are a godsend.” Yuuji probably didn’t deserve Yamaguchi Tadashi as an employee, with his warm smiles and ever present freckles, and how every time he went to the convenience store he asked if someone wanted something as well, and how he was a goddamn good piercer, and how he enjoyed taking care of people, and finally, how he was funny and sassy and overall a nice company. He definitely didn’t deserve Yamaguchi when, before following him down the small hallway, Yuuji had to suppress the too well-known warm bubbles of feelings rising in his belly, the telltale sign of a rising crush.

Two months. That was how long Yamaguchi had been working on the studio so far and that was the time it took to Yuuji be unable to deny his crush on the other man anymore. Yuuji was known for developing crushes quickly, the other person only needed to do one cute gesture or smile at him and Yuuji was gone. He loved people in general and he loved that about himself, how everyday he fell a little in love with someone different. The other day, he had seen a young woman say “excuse me” to a pigeon on the street as she strolled down the sidewalk and he still caught himself thinking about her sometimes.

But Yamaguchi just came in daily with a new punch to the gut that only made Yuuji grow fonder of him, the warm feeling inside his stomach digging deeper and getting itself settled there. And Yuuji couldn’t stop himself from calling Yamaguchi “Yama”, because he loved to give others cute nicknames and that one fit Yamaguchi like a glove. He died and went to heaven a little bit every time he was able to catch glimpses of rosy freckled cheeks when Yamaguchi replied calling him “Teru” instead.

“I have the back of an eighty year old man, fuck.” Yuuji threw himself at the chair, folding his arms over the table as he watched Yamaguchi move around their little kitchen in order to prepare his tea. He moved with familiarity already and Yuuji was glad to see that he felt welcomed, in his own space.

“Well, it’s like how the saying goes: beauty is pain.” He chuckled.

“It’s a shame the beauty is on someone else’s skin and I’m the one stuck with the pain.” Yuuji said, earning himself another little laugh from Yamaguchi, which just made things a bit better. “And today I only did the outlining, can you believe that?”

“Ouch, is this tattoo that one big, colorful dragon piece?” Yamaguchi answered in sympathy, looking over his shoulder as he filled Yuuji’s tea with ice cubes.

“Yeah, we are going to do the coloring in two weeks. Needless to say, I’m _not_ looking forward to that.”

“You say that but I know how much you love finishing a pretty, well done tattoo, Teru. Even if it fucks with your old man joints.”

“You got me there.” Yuuji sighed, leaning back onto the chair and wincing when he heard another joint pop. “Maybe it’s an artist thing, but I just like seeing people with my drawings on their skins… It is this pride thing, you know? And I get very happy that these people chose me to tattoo them.”

When Yuuji finished speaking, he realized Yamaguchi’s sharp eyes were focused on him, the man in question resting his hips and hands against the countertop as a small, fond smile took place on his lips. It probably lasted seconds, but as Yuuji met Yamaguchi’s eyes and they gazed at each other, Yuuji’s chest tightened in such a way that was just so pleasant at the same time that it was on the borderline of painful.

Yamaguchi was the one that diverted his eyes first, turning to, once again, face the counter to pick up the tea he prepared and a plate of fresh bread, placing both over the table and taking a seat in front of Yuuji, a canned iced coffee in his hands.

“There, eat something.” He said. “I know you did that appointment almost nonstop like the reckless person you are. You are probably starving.”

“Yeah, I am.” Yuuji replied, a cheeky grin on his lips. “Thanks, Yama.”

“Really, I can’t believe you sometimes.” Yamaguchi said exasperatedly, even as he smiled faintly as he watched Yuuji dig into his food.

As Yuuji stuffed his cheeks with fresh, warm bread and Yamaguchi laughed at his antics, the room was gradually filled with warmth, the cheerful glimpses of a building friendship more and more perceptible between the two men.

“Hum… wow!” Yuuji almost moaned. “Where did you buy this bread? Jesus, _it’s so good_! I need to buy like twelve loaves of it and eat bread until I die with a full belly.”

That got Yamaguchi chuckling. “It’s from a bakery near my flat.”

“That’s it, I’m moving in!” Yuuji announced, delivering a slap to the poor table to officiate it. “This bread is worth it and I’m gonna live in your house from now on.”

“Oi, this is not on my scope of work, you know?” He teased. “I wasn’t hired to fulfill your bread cravings.”

Yuuji gave a full body laugh at that and promptly choked on the piece of bread that was still inside his mouth, coughing and drinking his tea to properly swallow it. Yamaguchi laughed at his despair, but even if he was at the receiving end of Yamaguchi’s teasing, Yuuji was merely happy that Yamaguchi was getting comfortable around him enough to fuck with him like an old friend would.

As Yuuji finished the heavenly bread, he got up to throw the little crumbs away and wash the plate, quick to join Yamaguchi back at the table. When he rounded the table towards his seat, Yuuji caught sight of Yamaguchi’s single tattoo on the back of his upper arm.

“So I never asked you about that tattoo of yours.” He pointed out. “It’s cute.”

The tattoo consisted of five small trees, all positioned next to each other. It was a simple tattoo, all black and fine line, most of its charm was in the small details and the shadowing. Finally, each of them was unique, different in size and shape.

“Yeah, I did it when I was twenty or something… managed to save some money from a part-time job and got it done.” Yamaguchi explained briefly, turning his arm so that he could see the tattoo better himself.

“Who’s the tattoo artist?”

“No, huh, actually my friend Yachi was the one that drew this for me. And I found this guy that was kind of a beginner on tattooing but had a good hand at it, and he tattooed her drawing on me.” He elaborated. “It’s kinda like a friendship tattoo.”

“What? Really?” Yuuji inquired, excited at the new information.

“Yeah, it’s us... my Karasuno best friends.” Yamaguchi traced the long healed lines, smiling a beautiful, yet brief smile. “The smallest one is Yachi, that was our manager by the way, then there’s Hinata… this one is Kageyama, the tallest one is for Tsukki and this one here it’s supposed to be me.”

Yamaguchi walked Yuuji through the tattoo, pointing at the trees with one long, pretty finger, his nails trimmed clean and close to the skin. Yuuji, always an enthusiastic child when it came to body art, leaned over the table as he looked over the work ingrained on Yamaguchi’s tanned arm. Yuuji looked at the tattoo and at the tattoo only, knowing that if he was to raise his eyes, he would meet Yamaguchi’s face right there, in all its softness and tempting features, and he figured it was better to feel the other’s warmth for as long as he could instead of getting embarrassed at a couple of inches being crossed.

“The others have the same tattoo? Since you said it’s a friendship one.”

Yamaguchi chuckled. “Actually, no. Everyone got something different, but Yachi drew them all. Tsukki, for example, got five hands on his upper back; it’s this really beautiful, minimalist style.”

“That’s cool as fuck! I keep telling Kazuma and Takeharu we need a friendship tattoo, but we never agree on a design so…” Yuuji pouted, sad that his friendship tattoo was still a plan, even when he was friends with those people for more than ten years already.

“That was our problem as well!” Yamaguchi giggled. “We spent at least six months arguing about what to tattoo, that in the end everyone did their original ideas and everyone was happy. We are a chaotic bunch.”

Yuuji smiled at the new information, when he first met Yamaguchi he would never thought of him being part of a messy group of friends.

“I’m the only sane person between them all, but I love those idiots. They taught me a lot about standing up for what I believe and chasing after what I want, so yeah, I’m so glad I met them and that I get to call them my friends.” Yamaguchi rambled on, a fond expression on his face.

“I bet they would say the same about you.” Yuuji replied.

Yamaguchi beamed, content at his remark and Yuuji realized how dangerous this was getting. He caught himself wanting to meet Yamaguchi’s friends, wanting to get to know the other man deeply and share nothings with him. Those were messy and not appropriate feelings to develop for a recent friend, much less for an employee.

“What about _your_ first tattoo?” Yamaguchi asked, shifting his attention back to the current subject.

“You are going to laugh at me.”

“Now you have to show me!” He protested. “You can’t say that and leave me hanging.”

Yuuji laughed, contemplating the idea of not telling Yamaguchi and making him guess – which would be an extreme difficult task, given the amount of tattoos Yuuji had. “Here,” he said instead, twisting his forearm to show the other the requested tattoo. “I did this to myself when I found out about ‘stick and poke’ tattoos, bought some needles and ink and messed around with a free hand.”

The tattoo was a colorful scribble, shapeless forms blending together in what was clearly the outcomes of an impulsive teenager. The lines were a bit irregular, not a perfect line at all, but Yuuji had probably touched up on the colors, since the red and blue and yellow of it were still vibrant.

“That’s very unsanitary, you know?” Yamaguchi teased. “I don’t know if I should trust you with this studio.”

“I know, okay?” Yuuji snorted. “I thought a lot about covering it with a proper design, but I like this tattoo very much, even if it lacks technic. Because of it, I was able to meet my passion for body art.”

“It’s a cute tattoo. It fits your playful regard towards life.”

“What can I say? I’m super impulsive when it comes to tattoos, I just get them like crazy.” He shrugged. “And I guess my first one was also like that.”

“Why that doesn’t surprise me, like, _at all_?” Yamaguchi asked, receiving a cheeky grin from Yuuji.

“Well, you know me, after all.” He winked, playful as always, and Yuuji could have sworn that he got a fond smile in return.

There, at the back room of the studio, talking about body art and first tattoos with Yamaguchi. That was a nice moment; just throwing conversation away and enjoying the dragged time. That was a moment Yuuji would have liked to save inside his mind, together with the other growing intimacies that he and Yamaguchi were beginning to share.

“Though the real question is: you got a tattoo like, five years ago and then didn’t get another one? Are you immune to the tattoo addiction?”

“Actually, no, I’m not.” Yamaguchi answered. “I’m just really indecisive. Every time I choose a design in the midst of all that I want, I question myself on the positioning and whatever else and then I just end up postponing it.”

“That indeed sounds like you.” Yuuji said, ignoring Yamaguchi’s _‘hey!’_ of protest. “Something that I caught myself doing a lot is tattooing something, out of the blue, just because I think it’s beautiful and _then_ , I come up with a meaning like… how was I feeling at that time, did something good happen to me and stuff like that.”

“That’s on the opposite direction of what most people do.”

“Yeah, and it’s almost spontaneous. I caught myself doing it when I’m already halfway through a meaning.” Yuuji shrugged. “But most of the time, I just want to become a moving garden, so I keep getting these flowers and leaves all over.”

“As I see it, that’s completely valid. You are getting there as well.”

Yuuji smiled down at his arms, admiring the art that he collected on his skin throughout the years, his own and others’, and how they came together in a harmonic mess. He was so caught in observing the lines, that Yuuji lost the warm look Yamaguchi was directing at him, all fond eyes and pinkish lips pulled upwards and mess of freckles on tanned skin and newfound infatuation.

The sound of a chair scraping the floor pulled Yuuji out of his observant attention, making him look up to see Yamaguchi throwing his, now empty, can in the trash. And as he saw Yamaguchi tidying up the kitchen, Yuuji’s tiredness came back with a full force, mostly numb hands and a sore back, but also exhausted eyes and an overall fatigue.

“Hey, what do you say we close early today?” Yuuji suggested. “I’m craving take out, k drama and my bed for the rest of the day.”

“So you are really getting old.” Yamaguchi turned to him, crossing his nicely toned arms over his chest and speaking with the smugness of someone not even a whole year younger. “You can go home, we can close the studio for today.”

“What are you saying, Yama? Let’s all go home and rest. It’s only like, an hour and a half until we usually close either way.”

“You are the boss.” Yamaguchi pointed out, a tiny speckle of teasing in his voice. Yuuji rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “But really, you can trust me when, one day, you need someone to close the studio, ok?”

“I know that and I already trust you with this place.” Yuuji replied honestly. “Today, I just want us all to go home and enjoy a warm meal… and maybe a cold beer.”

“Now you are talking.” Yamaguchi giggled, pushing himself towards the door as Yuuji got up from his own chair. “Let’s see what Tsuchiyu and Futamata are up to.”

When they were halfway towards the entrance, Yamaguchi turned to him one last time, smiling one of his most gorgeous smiles, where his eyes got smaller until they turned into crescents, his cheeks got a bit more flushed, the bridge of his nose scrunched up and his teeth showed up in a large, pretty grin. “Thanks, by the way. I love it, working here.”

And what more could Yuuji do then smile back, mumble a half assed reply? He was taken aback by the raw honesty – in what was yes, a simple matter such as the workplace – and the gratefulness he heard in Yamaguchi’s voice. Those two simple and candid sentences made Yuuji feel full of happiness and maybe the beauty in Yamaguchi’s smile made him feel a little bit in love.

–

Terushima Yuuji was a hot mess.

There were many words Tadashi used to describe his boss inside his head, such as cute dork, sassy asshole, crazy child and playful menace were some of the combinations his mind came up with. _Hot mess_ , though, was a very frequent definition – together, probably, with _cute dork_ , but Tadashi wasn’t about to admit that, nop –, one that popped almost every day in Tadashi’s mind and one that characterized Terushima perfectly in that moment.

Currently, Terushima was pacing back and forth in the studio, opening drawers just to shut those seconds later in frustration and moving forward towards his next furniture victim. In between mumbled curses, Terushima was constantly running his fingers through his hair when his hands weren’t occupied, like when he frantically looked around the studio, lost about what to do. Surprisingly, he still wore the same hairstyle he sported back in high school and the most outraging thing about it all was that he still was able to look damn good with it.

Furthermore, Terushima was wearing a black tank top, and while it was a hot summer day, Tadashi believed that was a completely unnecessary move on Terushima’s part and probably a bit illegal. The offending article was loose on Terushima’s defined body, his toned, beautifully tattooed arms full on display for Tadashi’s hungry eyes to ogle, and Tadashi could swear he sometimes was able to catch glimpses of a tattoo on the other man’s ribcage, since the top was hanging dangerously low on his torso. And just like the hairstyle, Terushima was able to take a look that usually translated sheer laziness – probably the first thing one would put on in the morning in a rush – and make it look stunning.

So yeah, _hot mess_ was a perfect way to describe Terushima. Tadashi was oddly attracted.

In simpler, blunter words, Yamaguchi Tadashi was in deep shit.

It was not okay to develop a sexual attraction to your boss so early into working together. Hell, it wasn’t okay later either! And who was Tadashi trying to fool anyway, it was even worse when fondness shoved physical attraction to the side in order to occupy a big portion of his chest when Terushima laughed brightly or even just looked at him with those warm and excited chocolate eyes of his.

“Where the fuck did I put those?” Terushima asked no one in particular, proceeding on his search for the documents he needed. Bobata was soon coming to the studio to help with the financial part of things, or something to do with accounting and, because he couldn’t find said documents, Terushima was freaking out.

Bobata was a nice guy, carefree and reckless like all the other Johzenji boys Tadashi had met, but cool nonetheless. He taught math to high schoolers in a nearby school but, in his free time, he also helped his friends with the economic part of the studio, figuring out the bills and taxes.

“I thought you had put them on Takeharu’s room, inside the cabinets.” Tsuchiyu answered. “At least, that was where I last time saw the documents.”

Tsuchiyu was actually in between jobs in that moment. He was actually an archaeologist, but since he couldn’t find a job in his field for a while, the man was temporarily working as a secretary for the studio. For Terushima, it was good having him there, Tsuchiyu was amazing at organizing the studio’s messy schedule and, when he wasn’t there, Terushima and Futamata themselves had to figure out both planning the appointments and doing the tattooing.

“I know!” Terushima threw his hands up in the air in another display of frustration. Tadashi, unfortunately, didn’t even know what documents those were and, therefore, couldn’t help on the matter. “And I indeed put them there! That’s why this is all Takeharu’s fault, he’s always complaining when I stow them in his cabinets. But I can’t help it, mine are already full of stuff.”

“Hey, no time to fuss over that right now.” Tsuchiyu remarked, leaving his desk and joining Terushima in his relentless search. “I’ll help you find them.”

“Anyway, where’s Futamata?” Tadashi asked from his spot at the piercing’s room door. He was sorting out the jewelry in groups of specific types of piercing placement, so that in the future it would be easier to access them. “I didn’t see him today.”

“He was here earlier.” Tsuchiyu said, head shoved inside a cabinet, arms fumbling around. “He said he had to check something at the art school and didn’t come back. I bet he escaped to go meet with his girlfriend, though, the bastard.”

Futamata was the other tattoo artist in the studio. His style differed a lot from Terushima’s; while Futamata’s tattoos veered into the doodled and sketched side of things, Terushima’s art consisted of pretty, realistic representations of nature, all about complex lines and five-hour appointments. Besides that, Futamata also worked on an art school not far from the studio, teaching little kids the basics of drawing and expressing themselves through art.

“I’m so gonna beat Takeharu up when he shows up.” Terushima mumbled, sat at Tsuchiyu’s chair and once again looking through the counter drawers.

“Yuuji, you already checked there.” Tsuchiyu tiredly announced.

“I could have missed it!”

In that moment, Bobata walked in the studio, a tote bag slung over his shoulder, shirt crumpled and a bit unbuttoned, clearly recently untucked from his trousers. He gave a sly smile when he took in the chaotic state of the studio and placed his bag over the couch cushions.

“Why is it that every time I come here, this place is a mess?” He teased, pouring himself a cup of water that was kept over the center table for that purpose.

“Rude!” Tsuchiyu shouted back.

“Hey man.” Terushima said, leaving the counter. “I’m sorry but we probably won’t get anything done today, I can’t find the documents.”

“Yuuji, why are you such a mess?” Bobata asked, walking back to where he left his bag and taking a folder out of it. “You gave them to me last weekend when you came over.”

“Oh my god! Fuck myself, you are right!”

Tadashi, that was accompanying the whole odyssey by the door, gave a full body laugh as soon as Bobata showed the precious files Terushima was after the whole day. He clutched his stomach and bent forward, gasping intakes of air in between his laughter. Tadashi couldn’t help but congratulate himself at how correct he was when he thought of Terushima as a hot mess, it couldn’t be more fitting. Hot still fitted him as Terushima looked at Tadashi with narrowed eyes, full lips barely open in a mixture of disbelief and outrage at being laughed at.

“He has been after those the whole day!” He said, remnants of laughter spilling in giggles. “Oh my, Bobata, it’s so good they have you because if not, I bet those files would be long lost.”

“ _Yamaguchi!_ ” Terushima protested, embarrassment filling his checks with pink blotches.

“Oh yeah, I am well aware of that, Yamaguchi.” Bobata answered, glad to be able to further embarrass Terushima. “I still don’t know how Yuuji and Takeharu managed to run this place for so long without burning it down to the ground.”

“I’ll have you know that we are very efficient people.” Terushima replied, not backing down.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Tsuchiyu mumbled behind a snort, organizing once again the drawers that Terushima had probably messed up.

“Where the fuck is Takeharu when I need him to back me up?” He complained, clearly on a disadvantage against the three men.

“A second ago you wanted to beat him up.” Tadashi pointed out, smiling cutely when Terushima turned to glare at him.

Terushima swore under his breath, walking out of the room to grab what he needed and to finally start working with Bobata, that was already setting up the table for them. The other men laughed a bit at him, but stopped with the teasing, each of them returning to their original tasks.

When Tadashi finished sorting out the piercings, the other men were already deep into their own work; calculators, sheets of printed-paper full of numbers and piles of invoices spread out on the table in front of them. The studio was already closed for the day, so that they wouldn’t be interrupted by a non-booked costumer, usually those came to get a piercing or look at the tattoo artists’ portfolio.

“I’m going to the convenience store real quick, ‘kay?” Tadashi said, walking towards the exit door. “What do you guys want me to bring to you?”

“He’s the best guy you ever hired, Yuuji.” Bobata commented, asking right after for some snacks.

“I know that.” Terushima answered, not really meeting Tadashi’s eyes when his lips quirked up in a shy little smile. Tadashi felt his own cheeks warming at the blunt response, but he was quick to tell himself that it was only because he was proud of himself.

Tadashi made a mental list of the things they asked for and went to the streets, glad to feel the setting sun against his skin. Being on the studio, it felt like looking at the sun for too long, getting sunburnt and seeking for the shining star once more, addicted to it. The late afternoon was a nice way to escape for a bit, figure out how Terushima’s messy nature acted upon him and made his own feelings get messy, of all things.

The trip to the convenience store was quick; Tadashi was in and out in a few minutes with what he needed to buy. However, he was feeling rather indulgent that day and decided to walk a little further towards a small Boba shop that had recently opened nearby.

Arriving there, Tadashi quickly ordered three basic black tea bobas for him, Bobata and Tsuchiyu. For Terushima, though, Tadashi hesitated for a second before asking for a brown sugar boba milk. They had talked about that a few days earlier when Tadashi had discovered about the opening of said shop. Terushima had confessed that he had a bit of a sweet tooth and that he preferred the overly sweet, sans tea version of the drink.

Tadashi was a tad insecure about giving the drink to Terushima, actually. He wondered if it would become plainly obvious that he was constantly paying attention to the other, collecting the information they shared on the daily and archiving them simply because he cared about Terushima and that was the approach Tadashi used with his friends, the people he simply wanted to spoil for a day or two. He, however, didn’t let the overthinking get to him and paid for the drinks before making the way back towards the studio.

He pushed the door open with his hip, one hand occupied with a holder for the four drinks and the other holding the plastic bag from the convenience store. Struggling for a bit, Tadashi saw from the corner of his eye Terushima leap out from his seat to hold the door open for him, immediately offering his other hand to hold something for him. It was so endearing and sweet and Tadashi could feel his cheeks warming up at it, returning Terushima’s gentle smile with one of his own and forcing himself to ignore Bobata’s and Tsuchiyu’s cooing in the back.

“Terushima, that one is yours.” Tadashi said, pointing at the only different drink in between the four and placing the plastic bag on a clear spot on the table. He reached for a drink for himself and sat on the floor, facing the other three men that were gaping at him.

“Yamaguchi… you bought boba for us?” Terushima asked, although the straw was already between his lips.

“Huh, yeah?” Tadashi answered with a confused tilt of his head and an amused grin. “I’m not gonna drink four bobas by myself, y’know, I’m not a monster.”

Soon after he was bombarded with _thank yous_ and _you are literally the best person to have ever walked on earth_ that were barely understandable while all they did was chew on their tapioca balls and moan at the taste of fresh drinks. Tadashi laughed and searched inside the bag for his melon pan, asking on what he could help while they were still working.

“Oh no, Yamaguchi, you just sit there and relax, buddy.” Bobata said, head half shoved inside the bag looking for the pretzels he had asked for.

“Yeah, we are almost done here anyway.” Tsuchiyu waved him off.

“And we are definitely going out after this, by the way.” Terushima added, already chewing on two pocky sticks. How he could manage his sweet drink and a chocolate snack to pair it up, it was beyond Tadashi. “I feel sick after looking at numbers for so long… We need to hit the bar after this torture.”

All of them agreed very quickly with Terushima’s idea and Tadashi, feeling useless just watching and eating, insisted on at least organizing the papers and receipts for them, which contributed to the work to be finished faster. After tidying up the studio, throwing their garbage away and closing everything, they were ready for a night of drinking at their usual bar, compromising sake, icy beers, greasy food and a night of taunting each other guaranteed.

Arriving at the bar, all of them made their way towards the counter, ready to get their liquor flowing and the night starting. The bar they usually went to was a little hole-in-the-wall shoved between a restaurant and a commercial building, dimly lit and always full of its patrons that consisted mostly of tired men leaving their desk jobs in loose ties and college students looking for cheap booze. Even with a crowd that tended to be either too loud or too sullen, the bar was a nice place for a drink after work and, furthermore, the alcohol was affordable and the food was fresh and tasty.

As Tadashi asked for a bottle of beer and a sake shot and reached for his wallet to pay, he felt a warm hand closing over his own, squeezing gently. He looked up to meet Terushima’s eyes already gazing at him, a small smile on his lips as he gave his own card to the bartender and asked for it to cover both of their orders.

“Hey, you paid for all those snacks for us and refused any payment, so I’m taking charge of your drinks tonight. Don’t you worry about it and don’t you dare touch that wallet of yours, kay?”

It was truly intoxicating how Terushima kept looking at him, and only him, his lips moving in kind words and his firm hand still touching Tadashi’s. When he spoke, Tadashi was able to catch glimpses of the silver stud on his tongue, the little shining ball resting and moving against moist muscle, tempting Tadashi to get closer, into personal space.

“Yes, sir.” He answered, a touch of sarcasm to his voice, but he was also able to listen to the slightly breathless tone of it.

And that was why Terushima Yuuji was such a risky person for Tadashi to be close to. He pushed the younger man into becoming reckless, into overhearing his body’s cravings and simply ignoring what reason and common sense were screaming at him. And that was all before Tadashi had touched a drop of alcohol, the only thing Terushima needed was the hot air of a bar, a few close touches and those playful, yet piercing eyes being focused on him and Yamaguchi Tadashi was almost putty in his hands.

Tadashi never denied that he was weak, but that was getting ridiculous.

He was momentarily saved from his own thirst as the bartender placed their orders over the counter and returned Terushima’s card. They both thanked the man and made their way towards the table Tsuchiyu and Bobata had already claimed for themselves, sitting across them on the empty booth.

In between more and more empty bottles of beer, they shared big portions of french fries and small ones of salted nuts and Tadashi felt warmer and giddier every time Terushima found a soft, floppy fry and placed it on Tadashi’s plate instead. The hours flew by quickly while they laughed and drank together, sharing the greasy food as the conversation flowed with no particular logic. Eventually Futamata joined them at the bar, none the wiser as to why Terushima texted him to meet them until he got the promised beating that Terushima so desperately wanted to deliver. It was nice, spending time with all of them and freely laughing at their messy ordeals.

Tadashi could feel the faint and pleasant buzz the booze left on his body, still aware of everything but almost past that dangerous borderline where filter was thrown out of the window. He wasn’t a big fan of drinking beer but the bitter beverage was a good side to all of his shots of sake, which Tadashi could happily drink all night. He could sense the slight changes on his behavior caused by the alcohol, how he shifted a bit closer to Terushima, how he was a bit bolder with his casual – still mostly aborted – touching and how he let Terushima brush his body against his own body every time he got up to fetch another beer.

Tadashi knew that it was better to counter the alcoholic drinks with some water or juice, but _oh_ how tempting it was to give in for once to the burning sensation that was Terushima, follow that trail of desire and warmth that he always left behind himself.

When the night ended it was with nothing more than that, skins brushing, aborted touching and, finally, the sensation of hunger, of yearning for more.

Terushima, then, walked Tadashi towards the subway station and waited with him for the right train, a heavy, hot palm pressed against the small of Tadashi’s lower back, grounding at the same time that it pushed him forward. However, it stopped there. Both were still inebriated from the bar, yet they refused to cross that one line they obviously wanted to.

When Tadashi arrived in his flat, he barely took his shoes off before he threw himself over his poorly made bed, still on his clothes, head fighting against the growing dizziness and sweat from the summer night coating his chest. He quickly reviewed the day in his mind, pushing his bangs off his forehead before sighing deeply and shoving his hand under his pants.

–

Yuuji was working on a commission for a client when Yamaguchi came inside his workroom and threw himself on the small couch Yuuji kept there. He sighed tiredly and slid his body down until he was almost laying horizontally, long legs splayed open. Yuuji quickly glanced up from his work, acknowledging the other, before focusing on the paper once again.

“What leads a guy to the decision that he wants to get his dick pierced?” Yamaguchi wondered aloud, looking up at the ceiling.

“Ah, so it’s about this.” Yuuji chuckled, switching pencils. “Arata told me you had a genital piercing session coming up.”

“Ugh, I hate doing those.” He shuddered, glad to be done with that one appointment, at least. “But you end up doing whatever puts the milk in the fridge, I guess.”

Yuuji snorted at that, shadowing his drawing and adding a few more lines here and there. They remained in silence for a few minutes, Yuuji working and Yamaguchi taking a bit of a rest, the two of them at peace in only being there.

“But seriously, why would someone willingly do that? It’s a needle going through your dick and you also have to trust someone else to do it.” Yamaguchi complained once again, making Yuuji laugh.

“I don’t know, dude, it works for some people.”

“Please, tell me you don’t have a dick piercing.” Yamaguchi turned his neck to look at him, a somewhat incredulous expression on his face.

Yuuji smirked to himself and dropped his pencil, looking up with the same smug grin still on his lips. “Why? You interested in it?”

“Oh, shut up.” He said with a scoff, rolling his eyes.

Yamaguchi was very quick to turn his eyes away from Yuuji’s, looking up once again before sitting properly and reaching towards the sketchbook Yuuji had left on the table in front of the loveseat, beginning to flip through it. He was almost overly nonchalant in his reactions, but Yuuji would bet big money that there was a blush coating the freckled skin of Yamaguchi’s cheeks.

Yuuji laughed quietly for a bit before returning to his drawing and letting Yamaguchi take a peaceful look at his sketches. While he detailed his work even further, Yuuji had to constantly tell himself to wipe the giddy smile that made its way back to his face every time, something that reminded him way too much of his high school crushes and how he was hopeless when it came to cute boys, especially Yamaguchi Tadashi.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Yamaguchi called his name, and although he had called the other, Yamaguchi had his eyes glued on a specific page the sketchbook was open in. “What?” He asked, trying to get a look at which drawing Yamaguchi was looking at, but he was too far for him to recognize.

“Was this drawing commissioned by a client?” He asked, getting up from the couch, making his way towards Yuuji’s desk and showing him the drawing.

It was a chrysanthemum Yuuji had drawn a couple of weeks back, very detailed and complex, too many petals blending together and only distinguable because of the meticulous shadowing work he did on it. He didn’t get, though, why Yamaguchi was asking about it, he always looked through Yuuji’s drawings but never asked if they were commissioned or not.

“No, why?”

“Can I get it tattooed?” He smiled, eagerly asking.

“Sure, you can… Wait, w-what?” Yuuji took a double take. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious.” Yamaguchi looked down at the drawing once again, observing the bold and smoky lines that composed the piece. “I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t.”

“Well, for someone who claims to be indecisive when it comes to tattoos you sure decided quickly on that one.” Yuuji pointed out, not wanting Yamaguchi to tattoo something on a whim and then regret it. “Why that all of a sudden?”

“It’s perfect.” He simply said, shrugging his shoulders.

Yuuji felt so proud hearing that, but at the same time, he was embarrassed at the amount of honesty Yamaguchi was able to input in such a simple sentence. “It’s just a sketch.” He said.

“Your modesty should be studied, dude.” Yamaguchi mocked, claiming his seat back at the couch, sketchbook still in his hands. Yes, it was a bit blurry around the edges but the overall aspect of it was still breathtaking. “This is not ‘ _just a sketch_ ’, this is so pretty and if you made a stencil of it, I would tattoo it now.”

“Hell no, that I can’t accept.” Yuuji shook his head, getting up and joining Yamaguchi on the couch. “I’m a professional, you know? If you really want to tattoo this, I’ll make it right for you, Yama. Give me a couple of days and I’ll have a decent drawing for you.”

“Perfectionists.” Yamaguchi rolled his eyes, but he was smiling happily. “Ok, then. I’ll trust the artist on you.”

“That’s the only trustworthy version of me.” Yuuji joked, taking the sketchbook and analyzing the drawing, already thinking about how he could improve it. He folded the corner of the page to bookmark it and placed the sketchbook down.

“Don’t I know that.”

Just then, Tsuchiyu popped up at the door, notifying Yamaguchi about a group of girls that wanted to look at the conch and tragus piercings. “Back to ear piercings, thank god.” He sighed contentedly, getting up and walking towards the door with a little wave thrown to Yuuji over his shoulder.

“Hey, Yamaguchi!” Yuuji called before he left.

“Yep?”

“I don’t, by the way.”

“Don’t what?” Yamaguchi asked, a bit confused.

“I don’t have a dick piercing.”

This time, Yuuji had the pleasure to see the dark crimson spreading through Yamaguchi’s tanned complexion and how he stuttered with his words for a few seconds, before giving up. Yuuji kept smiling through it all, very glad to be able to fluster always cool Yamaguchi Tadashi to silence, until he said “good to know, then” and left the room with a dirty little smile of his own, which only made Yuuji burst out laughing in delight.

–

“So yeah, I’m getting it tattooed next week.” Tadashi said, locking his phone after showing the drawing to Tsukishima and Kuroo.

Tadashi usually spent a lot of time on Tsukishima’s and Kuroo’s shared flat for movie nights and board games, but this time, the couple had made their way to the studio, since Kuroo wanted to get a new eyebrow piercing with his favorite piercer. Without any rush, Tadashi was chatting with both of them while he sterilized everything.

“It will turn out beautiful.” Tsukishima added, sitting on the stool by the wall while Kuroo was laying down on the reclined chair.

“Right? Terushima was able to take a beautiful drawing and make it even prettier.” Tadashi chuckled, putting on his black gloves.

Kuroo silently looked at his boyfriend at that, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking slyly. Tsukishima only rolled his eyes, but he was also smiling dangerously.

“I’m really curious, though,” Kuroo started and Tadashi could already predict what was coming his way by the tone of Kuroo’s voice, “when will either of you do something about the sexual tension I could smell a block away from here?”

“Oh, it was taking too long for you to start.” He sighed. “Why do I dropped my guard around you guys, huh?”

“How long has this been dragging on, anyway?” Tsukishima wondered falsely. “Four months? That’s how long you have been working here, by the way, and how long you have been crushing on him as well, what a coincidence.”

“Ha-ha, so clever you.” Tadashi sassed back.

“But seriously anyone could tell that both of you are thirsty for each other just by standing in the same room and catching a couple of looks.” Tsukishima said.

“It’s so charged!” Kuroo added.

“He’s my boss.” He tried to counter.

“And?” Both Tsukishima and Kuroo asked at the same time, it was terrifying how coordinated they were sometimes.

“And I have a needle in my hand and one of you at my mercy so I wouldn’t recommend pissing me off.” He threatened, rolling the needle between his thumb and indicator.

That got the couple laughing and Tadashi couldn’t help but chuckle along as well. Since everything was set up for the piercing, Tadashi approached Kuroo and placed everything he needed close by.

“So, which eyebrow is it gonna be?” He asked.

“Yamaguchi, why are you so mean?” Tsukishima asked. “It’s the only available eyebrow, if you do it on the right one no one’s going to see it beneath that mess he calls a hair.”

“Your sass doesn’t affect me anymore, Tsukki.” Kuroo stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend. “Not after you agreed to be my boyfriend and fucking moved in with me.”

“Yeah Tsukki, Kuroo-san knows about your secret crush now, you can’t hide behind sarcasm anymore.” Tadashi teased, glad to be able to give Tsukishima a bit of his own medicine.

“Tsk.”

Tadashi giggled, focusing back on Kuroo. “Left one, then?”

“Yeah, it’s the left one.”

Tadashi proceeded to clean with alcohol the skin around Kuroo’s eyebrow before marking with a pen where he was going to pass the needle through. He asked the man if everything was ok and if he could finally do the piercing, receiving a nod from Kuroo. Tadashi was always quick and precise with his work and Kuroo only hissed a bit when the jewelry was being put in place, staying still until Tadashi told him he was ready and good to go.

“How do I look, babe?” Kuroo asked, showing his newly made piercing to Tsukishima.

“You look good.” He answered sincerely, receiving a quick kiss from Kuroo before he was moving towards the mirror to take a good look at it.

Tadashi was throwing out the used utensils and cleaning the space, before reciting to Kuroo the needed precautions when dealing with a new piercing, things Kuroo was already well versed on, but it wouldn’t hurt to remind him.

“And Tsukki.” He turned to his best friend. “You be careful with his face for a while, I’ve seen you guys make out before and that’s not safe for someone with a new piercing on their face.”

“Fuck off, Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima grumbled, but Tadashi only laughed at the blush present on his pale cheeks.

“Yeah, yeah, Tsukki is very handsy with me.” Kuroo said smugly. “He can’t control his hands on my hair, the one that he so much likes to insult.”

“I’m leaving both of you.” Tsukishima said, getting up and leaving the piercing room, Tadashi and Kuroo following him on his heels though.

At the studio reception, they found Terushima chatting with Tsuchiyu, pointing at something on the parlor’s appointment book. “Yes, call this client and ask if we can move her appointment to another day, if not, a couple hours forward should do.” He was saying while studying his schedule, trying to figure out which day it would be great to move the concerning appointment.

“Oh hey, Yama.” He said, acknowledging him with a charming smile.

“Hey.” Tadashi replied, approaching him. “Problems with any appointments there?”

“Yeah.” Terushima slid a hand through his bleached hair, roots a bit visible already. “I confused myself with some dates and now I have two appointments overlapping.”

“Shit.” Tadashi mumbled, looking at Tsuchiyu that was already calling the client. “You’ll figure it out, you always do. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Tadashi said that, but he knew how serious Terushima was about his work and about the tattoo parlor. He was the most considerate tattoo artist Tadashi ever saw, delivering stunning drawings and graciously listening to all of his clients desires on an art that was going to be permanently on their skin. Tadashi had yet to tattoo something with him, but he could swear in gut feeling alone that Terushima had gentle hands when tattooing. He rarely committed any mistakes when it came to the studio’s schedule and, when he did, he beat himself up too early, before the problem was inevitably taken care of.

For all the times Tadashi called Terushima _messy_ inside his head, he could never say that when it came to actually taking care of the people that tattooed with him. That Terushima did with so much love that Tadashi was uncertain if it made him a bit jealous or even more infatuated.

During all the time that he had his hand gently squeezing Terushima’s shoulder, Tadashi was ignoring the smug smiles he was sure he had directed at the back of his neck, as both Tsukishima and Kuroo observed the scene in front of them with satisfaction at being proven correct.

“Hum, by the way, this is my friend Tsukishima Kei and his boyfriend Kuroo Tetsurou.” Tadashi introduced them, trying, at the same time, to distract Terushima for a beat and wipe the ridiculous smirks his friends were still sporting.

“Oh hey, it’s a pleasure.” Terushima answered, bowing slightly in greeting.

They shared pleasantries for a few minutes, Tsukishima and Kuroo holding back everything they wanted to say and joke about under Tadashi’s watchful gaze. Tsukishima still didn’t know how Tadashi still kept his captain authority even after high school was long gone. At some point, Terushima complimented Tadashi’s work on Kuroo’s new eyebrow piercing and Tadashi dropped the entire tough exterior to beam at the other man.

“Yuuji.” Tsuchiyu called, covering the speaker of the phone. “She said she can on the following Friday morning, is that okay?”

“I don’t have anyone in that day, do I?” Terushima asked, checking the appointment book once more. “That’s perfect, then. Thanks, Arata.”

“All’s good, man.” He replied with a smile, returning to the call to confirm the new day.

Terushima sighed happily, letting the tension flow out of his body. “Ah, I’m glad that was sorted out.”

“See? Told you.” Tadashi answered smugly, smiling at him.

“You are always right, aren’t you?” Terushima smiled back, their bodies leaning into each other’s almost imperceptibly, being pulled closer like magnets, unable to do anything about it.

The present couple was watching everything with great interest, how Tadashi and Terushima seemed unaware that they were still there. “So Terushima-san, we were going to grab some coffee, do you want to join us?” Tsukishima was the one that broke the tense atmosphere, bringing both set of love stuck eyes back to him.

“Oh sorry, I’m filled with ideas for a new flash so I’m gonna go draw those before I run out inspiration.” He said, smiling apologetically.

“I’m sure we are going to have a lot of future opportunities, anyway.” Kuroo added. “See you!”

Terushima looked a bit confused at that but he smiled nonetheless, promising to join some other time while he made his way back to his workroom. Tadashi told Tsuchiyu that he would be back in a few minutes and the three men made their way out of the studio, heading to a near coffee shop.

“Are you still going to deny that?” Tsukishima asked as they made their way down the street.

“Deny what?” Tadashi asked, feigning innocence and maybe hoping to get out of it without further embarrassment from his friends.

“Dude was freaking out until you said a couple of gentle words and touched his shoulder.” Kuroo laughed loudly.

“Terushima is… Sometimes, he blows things out of proportion.” Tadashi tried to explain. “But overall, he is a really chill guy.”

“Chill, as if.” Tsukishima scoffed. “No, he doesn’t look like a chill guy to me, he looks like a hurricane of feelings.”

“And in the middle of that hurricane are his obvious feelings for Yamaguchi, being centrifuged in the whole mess.” Kuroo added.

Tadashi laughed, a bit lost in between all the sudden metaphors. “Where do you guys come up with those images?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Tsukishima shrugged, pushing open the door to the coffee shop. “Just do something about this situation, please, all the pining is getting ridiculous.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Tadashi waved him off, making his way to the counter. “I’ll do something about it.”

–

Yuuji unlocked the studio front door and pushed it open, letting the slightly chiller air from a Sunday morning permeate the space. He had decided together with Yamaguchi that it was better for them to have Yamaguchi’s tattoo done on a day that the studio didn’t open, so that they could do things calmly and without any rush.

He made his way to his workroom and placed the two paper cups he had with him over his table and, while he waited for Yamaguchi to join him, Yuuji began setting up his workspace, taking out the needed ink, needles, his tattoo gun and everything else. Yamaguchi showed up a few minutes later, dressed comfily in a thin, beige cardigan, which he quickly discarded, displaying a loose, black t-shirt underneath it, together with his skinny, black and ripped around the knees jeans. Yamaguchi was able to effortlessly look both soft and edgy at the same time and Yuuji was not only a little bit, but a whole lot in love with him.

“Good morning!” He greeted brightly, entering the room with the familiarity of someone that spent a lot of time there, a paper bag being held in one of his hands.

“Morning!”

“Is this for me?” Yamaguchi asked, pointing at one of the cups over Yuuji’s table. A pleased smile was playing on his lips, the paper bag crumpling a bit under his gripping hand.

“Yeah, the other one actually.” Yuuji replied, ignoring the fact that he was getting flustered over the simple gesture of getting Yamaguchi a latte.

“I brought bread for us.” He said then, lifting the small bag and shaking its contents in the air. “You know, from the bakery near my flat that you are obsessed with.”

“Oh my, it’s the bread from heaven.” Yuuji took the bread Yamaguchi was offering him and smelled the freshly baked goods, still warm on the tip of his fingers. “Once again we meet, my lovely bread.”

Yamaguchi burst out laughing, taking his cup and joining Yuuji on the couch so that they could eat before getting started on the tattoo.

“This is getting weird.” He said. “You’re going to eat that bread, stop the declarations of love.”

“Oh yeah, I’m going to eat it.” Yuuji answered before biting onto it and moaning in pleasure.

Yamaguchi slapped his shoulder in between another laugh, almost choking on his own mouthful of bread. “Fuck, stop it, you kinky, bread defiler.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop now.” Yuuji said, cheeks puffed.

“I’m trying to have an innocent breakfast, thank you very much.”

They finished their quick breakfast talking lightly, sharing the rest of the bread and finishing the drinks Yuuji had bought. When Yuuji finished his last piece of bread, he thanked Yamaguchi and asked what he had to do to become best friends with the baker that made those baked delights, getting another giggle from Yamaguchi, and didn’t that make everything worth it?

Yuuji sat down on his stool by the tattoo stretcher, putting on his black gloves and placing the prepared stencil aside. While Yamaguchi threw their garbage away, Yuuji set up his tattoo gun, connecting the needle for outlining to the machine.

“So where is it gonna be?” he asked. “You didn’t tell me the placement.”

He looked up only to choke on the spot with his saliva. Because Yamaguchi had just reached for the hem of his shirt and stripped himself of it in one fluid motion, the dark fabric being thrown to the side with no ceremony. Yamaguchi was saying something about how he wanted to tattoo the flowers on his back, but Yuuji couldn’t really properly listen, Yuuji could only open his mouth around nothing like a stupid fish because Yamaguchi Tadashi was fucking shirtless in his studio and he was so damn beautiful Yuuji didn´t know where to keep his eyes.

Well, the polite thing to do was keep his eyes on Yamaguchi’s face instead of wandering around like a big weirdo. But it was so difficult when Yamaguchi was so tall and slim, faint lines of definition dancing on the planes of his stomach and chest. It was so challenging on his willpower when Yamaguchi was tanned and freckled everywhere, on his shoulders and down to his arms. And finally, it was impossible to look away when Yuuji was presented with the revelation that both of Yamaguchi’s nipples were pierced, two silver spheres hugging each nub.

If Yuuji was in deep shit before, now there was no turning back. Yamaguchi Tadashi was too pretty for him, but Yuuji was entranced anyway.

“So yeah, I was thinking about getting it on my back, curling towards a shoulder, maybe my left one.” Yuuji forced himself to pay attention to the words, catching the end of Yamaguchi’s explanation. “What do you think?”

“Huh, I-I think it’s a good place.” Yuuji replied, trying to sound calm and collected, but his voice carried a shaky tone. “It’ll turn out nice, I think. I can place the stencil on your skin and you can tell me if that’s what you have in mind.”

“Okay!”

Yamaguchi walked over to the tattoo stretcher and laid down on his stomach, presenting Yuuji with his freckled back, spine and arms moving with fluid movements until he was settled properly. In order to settle himself, Yuuji took a deep breath and released it, Yamaguchi shivering as the cold breath hit his exposed skin. Yuuji quickly prepared his skin and placed the stencil over it, hands a bit unsteady to be touching the warm, naked skin of the one that held his affections.

When the stencil was transferred to Yamaguchi’s skin, Yuuji got up to fetch a mirror. “Here, take a look at it.”

“Hum, it looks good.” Yamaguchi nodded, but Yuuji – working for so long at that – was able to catch an edge of uncertainty in his voice.

“Hey, be honest with me.” Yuuji said, taking his seat at the stool and meeting Yamaguchi’s eyes. “Those chrysanthemums will be on your skin forever, they gotta be perfect. And replacing the stencil is the easiest fucking thing, so just tell me if you want me to move it.”

Yamaguchi giggled, an embarrassed blush covering his cheeks. “Ok, I’m sorry. Could you move it a couple of inches up? And a bit to the left as well.”

“Yep!” Yuuji proceeded to clean his skin and place the stencil once more, showing it to Yamaguchi again and asking if it was good.

“Yes, it’s perfect now.”

“Are you sure?” He asked. “We can keep doing this the whole day, you know.”

“Teru, I swear, it’s just like I imagined.” Yamaguchi smiled up at him, pillowing his head on his right arm and settling into the stretcher. “You can start the actual tattooing anytime soon.”

For someone who only had one small tattoo, Yamaguchi was the ideal client for a tattoo artist. It was his first big piece, but he stood still and didn’t complain about the pain, his body only giving some involuntary spasms occasionally. As the needle moved and punctured through his skin, Yamaguchi didn’t ask for any breaks, Yuuji was the one pausing the session to share a bottle of water with him and stretch his back and shoulders.

Yuuji finished the outlining a bit over two hours into the appointment, when it was already time for some lunch. He took his phone and ordered some Thai take out, that he and Yamaguchi shared over casual conversation and joyful laughter, Yamaguchi’s naked chest still distracting Yuuji into oblivion. Sometimes Yuuji wondered if he wasn’t intentionally provoking him.

“Okay!” Yuuji exclaimed when he finished his food, throwing his and Yamaguchi’s garbage away. “Only the shadowing and the finer details to go.”

For all the distractions Yamaguchi’s chest caused, when Yuuji tattooed he was completely focused, silent and trustful on his practiced, talented hand. And Yuuji couldn’t deny that he wanted this particular tattoo to turn out beautiful, flawless on the equally flawless skin of Yamaguchi. Because yes, it was so beautiful, patterned with uneven marks that Yuuji was blessed to be able to draw over, creating a unique and stunning piece, only really possible on Yamaguchi’s skin.

When he finished, it was around two and a half hours later, and both Yuuji and Yamaguchi were sore from staying for too long in a single position. Yuuji bent his back and groaned, hearing a few of his joints popping loudly. He discarded his gloves and all the needles he used, cleaning Yamaguchi’s skin one last time.

“Not to sound pretentious or anything, but wow, it looks beautiful.” Yuuji said, admiring his work.

And it did indeed, the flowers curling so gently on Yamaguchi’s shoulder, filling his skin and highlighting his freckles. “Show me, show me!” Yamaguchi squirmed on the chair, eager to see his new tattoo.

Yuuji laughed and moved to grab the mirror, pointing the reflective surface to the tattoo so that Yamaguchi could see it properly. “Wow!” He breathed, mouth open in wonder, his neck craned over his shoulder. Yuuji smiled at him over the mirror, always so glad to deliver beautiful body art to people and see how equally glad they got.

“I don’t have the words to describe how pretty this is.” Yamaguchi finally said. “Thank you so much, Terushima.”

“Thank _you_ , for asking me to tattoo that.” He answered. “It’s very beautiful, I loved it.”

“Me too.” He beamed. “Although, looking back at it, I’ll have to twist every time I want to look at it.”

Yuuji laughed at the pout on Yamaguchi’s lips, stating that yes, that was the problem with back tattoos, but that the choice in placement was very clever. He placed the mirror down and asked Yamaguchi to lay down one last time, so that he could wrap the tattoo up and protect it for the following hours. Finally, he begun reciting the routine of care Yamaguchi had to follow, finally handing him a small flyer when Yamaguchi was up and dressed on his t-shirt once again.

When he finished tiding up the studio, Yuuji let the words he had been meaning to ask ever since Yamaguchi showed up that morning. For all the cool and unbothered exterior Yuuji supported, Yamaguchi was truly intimidating in all his soft and ethereal beauty and, before anything else, Yuuji was intimidated by him, itching to impress and to treat him right.

“So Yama, there’s this V.League game later today, from the division 1.” He started, struggling to meet Yamaguchi’s eyes with his own. _Get a fucking grip, Yuuji_ , he wordlessly screamed to himself. “I was wondering if… if you wanted to watch it together, we can, hum, hang out… maybe? If you are free?”

He finally met Yamaguchi’s eyes, then, putting a lid on his rambling and hoping that the other would say yes. Yamaguchi was nodding eagerly, a joyful smile on his lips, his honeyed eyes clearly excited.

“Yes, sure!” He replied. “I knew about that game as well and I’m free the whole day. I’m all yours.”

Yamaguchi was a huge tease, the sneakiest of boys, and Yuuji could only smile largely at him, so far gone. Yuuji could tell they were unparalleled matches for each other, both shameless flirts, but deep down huge dorks. Furthermore, they were slow pacing lovers, moving tentatively, slowly towards each other, until inevitably they met the other halfway.

And Yuuji couldn’t wait to reach that middle ground, to have him all to himself. Still, he didn’t dare rush, he danced at Yamaguchi’s tune, knowing Yamaguchi was moving forward as well.

“Let’s go then.” Yuuji said. “My flat’s on walking distance.”

The walk to Yuuji’s flat was calm and pleasant, the weather a bit warmer already but not overly hot. They talked aimlessly about everything that popped in between, making a quick stop at a convenience store to grab some beers and a couple of snacks.

“The game’s in an hour or so,” Yuuji said as he unlocked the door to his apartment, getting inside and toeing his shoes off, Yamaguchi right behind him “and I have some ramen halfway done, so I can finish it for us to eat. What do you think?”

“I never would have pegged you for a cook.” Yamaguchi smiled, lining up his shoes on the genkan. “And of homemade food, on top of it all. But yeah, it sounds great.”

“Ramen is the only thing I can safely cook from scratch, actually.” He answered. “I’m kind of a master in it.”

Yuuji’s flat was small, but also very cozy. Beside his bedroom and the bathroom, the living room was integrated to the kitchen and the space was nicely illuminated by the large windows present there. He didn’t own much, but the surfaces of it were full of character, walls filled with artsy prints, a bookshelf full of books and magazines as well as too many art supplies scattered around.

“Make yourself comfortable anywhere, Yama.” Yuuji instructed, washing his hands at the kitchen sink and opening his fridge to get everything he needed. “This will only take some minutes.”

“Nah, let me help with something.” Yamaguchi replied, bumping his hip against Yuuji’s as he made his way to the sink to wash his hands as well.

Yuuji refused to acknowledge how fucking domestic everything about that was, both of them sharing counter space and chatting comfortably while Yamaguchi was cutting the mushrooms and Yuuji was heating the broth and cooking the pasta. Yuuji felt overly warm having to dodge the solid presence of Yamaguchi’s body, but he blamed it all on the hot air of his kitchen. He couldn’t blame the hot kitchen air, though, when he felt so lucky, smiling blissfully at the simple task of telling Yamaguchi where he could find bowls and chopsticks, watching as he gradually got more familiarized with Yuuji’s space.

When they were finished, Yuuji neatly prepared two bowls and grabbed a package of wasabi leaves for them to snack on. He brought the bowls to the living room and placed them on his center table, turning his small TV on. Yamaguchi soon joined him, bringing two cold cans of beer and their store-bought snacks.

The athletes warm-ups were just beginning and for a few minutes all they did was silently eat their food, watching the screen indifferently while the game had yet to start.

“Hum, Terushima, this is so good.” Yamaguchi commented, happily slurping his noodles.

“I know my ramen, thank you.” He answered smugly, taking a wasabi leaf and munching on it.

As the match started, both of them turned their focus to the ongoing plays. In between sips of beer, they settled into the small couch to watch the best-out-of-five game. They commented on the rallies they found the most interesting, marveling at the skill of the players and how both teams were pushing forward with each play.

Yuuji had the privilege to be able to watch Yamaguchi get overly excited at each strong serve, especially if they were jump floaters, which – speaking V.League 1 teams – were very often. Yuuji was glad for that, he felt showered with cuteness at almost every rally, either when Yamaguchi’s eyes sparkled in wonder or when he turned to Yuuji, asking animatedly _“did you see that?”_ or _“look at that service ace, whoa!”._ Yuuji, on his side of the couch, admired the complex attack styles of each team, maybe a bit eager to get on a volleyball court and try to imitate some of those just for the fun of it, but knowing that he was very rusty, even if he occasionally still played with his friends.

As the game went on, he and Yamaguchi opened more cans of beer, pilling the empty ones on the table in front of them. During the tense moments at the end of a set or by the end of the fifth one, they were full out gasping at crazy saves and groaning when a play didn’t work as planned.

And when the both of them reached for the bag of potato chips in between their bodies and their hands inevitably bumped each other, Yuuji was speechless at how stupidly cliché that was. It was so damn cliché, it was more infuriating than embarrassing. Yamaguchi only laughed and reached once more for the chips, shoving them inside his mouth and crunching loudly. As he reached for more before even swallowing his mouthful, Yuuji was able to catch the glint of mischief in his clever eyes and didn’t hesitate to lightly and playfully shove Yamaguchi’s hand away, taking his deserved chips.

Later, when they started watching a running marathon just because it was the next thing on TV, Yuuji paid more attention to the boy by his side than to the people running too many miles on the screen. He wondered if Yamaguchi would fall for the _‘yawn and put an arm over the back of the couch’_ move and came to the immediate conclusion that he wouldn’t. But maybe he would laugh at Yuuji, and his playful persona decided to give it a shot. Almost theatrically, he ended up with his arm circling Yamaguchi’s shoulder, the boy giggling and leaning closer to Yuuji, tears of laughter at Yuuji’s lack of smoothness, and Yuuji decided it was worth it.

Even later, when he bid Yamaguchi goodbye at his front door, Yuuji thought about what it would be like if he asked Yamaguchi to stay, and what it implied. Instead, he got a hug, Yamaguchi circling one arm over Yuuji’s shoulder and placing the other at his waist. It was almost like second nature to mirror him, embracing the warm body close to his until Yamaguchi stepped back, smiling so bright, his eyes turning into crescents and his freckles turning pink.

For once, Yuuji wasn’t rushing into things, being his usual reckless self. To have Yamaguchi over at his house, maybe sharing a bed and other domestic routines was a dream he couldn’t quite yet grasp in the reality of his fist. He could taste on his tongue the words asking Yamaguchi to stay, instead he wished him goodbye, asked him to send a message when he arrived home and told him they would see each other on the next day.

It wasn’t time for anything else yet. Yet.

–

_[8.13pm] I saw the photo of your tattoo on the studio’s ig_

_[8.13pm] It’s pretty_

_[8.42pm] i know, right?_ _(_ _ﾉ_ _◕_ _ヮ_ _◕_ _)_ _ﾉ_ _*:_ _･ﾟ_ _✧_

_[8.43pm] thankssss, tsukki!!_

Tadashi locked his phone and swiftly pocketed it when boarding the subway. Sunday night and both the station and the transport in itself were scarce of people. He took a seat by the doors and felt the subway start moving towards the station near his place, moving away from Yuuji’s.

He stretched his legs forward and looked up to the bright, blinding lights of the subway carriage, blinking his eyes against the burn they caused. Tadashi replayed the day quickly in his head, from tattooing to being volleyball enthusiasts and cooking together of all things. Terushima did have gentle hands when he tattooed, the poking needle barely a nuisance as Tadashi only focused on felling the gloved fingertips touching his skin, the warm puffs of breath over him. Furthermore, his cooking tasted like home, even if it tasted nothing at all like his parents’. He couldn’t believe how fast the hours flew by when, as the volleyball game ended, they got roped into watching a running marathon, even if it wasn’t funny or dynamic and they didn’t get the gist of it.

He remembered the feel of Terushima’s body pressed against his, and found he wanted more and then some.

Tadashi was completely himself around Terushima and he guessed there was no one else he ever liked in his life quite like he liked Terushima. He chuckled to himself, feeling silly and not caring at all, felling elated and in love.

He was lost on thoughts about Terushima’s sunny smile that he almost lost his stop, springing as the doors started to close.

–

It came to the point where Tadashi thought he couldn’t fall even deeper in love with Terushima. And yet.

And yet he was proven wrong. Again and again.

By the end of one Saturday afternoon, Tadashi had invited Terushima and his friends to play volleyball with some Karasuno alumni. Only Terushima and Futamata had agreed to it, finding themselves on a gym with another dozen men in order to freely play and enjoy volleyball.

As Tadashi looked at Terushima across the net that separated them, he was awed by the amount of beauty Terushima exhaled, mind blown by Terushima’s playstyle and how good he looked all sweaty, t-shirt sleeves pushed up his broad shoulders. Terushima was all playfulness and attractive edges, locks of his slicked back hair sometimes falling out of it, which forced him to push them back, much to Tadashi’s viewing pleasure.

Overall, Terushima was stunning and enrapturing when he played, laughing it off when he lost a point due to his reckless moves or whooping happily when something went exactly like he planned. Both were equally adorable and Tadashi smiled at him every time, for Terushima was too endearing in all his childish behaviors on court, even if Tadashi lost points at his expense.

When Tadashi scored a service ace on Terushima, the man going for an overhand pass but the ball floating up and dropping out of the court, Tadashi laughed loudly at Terushima’s incredulous expression and proceeded to serve at his direction once again. This time, though, Terushima managed to keep the ball in the air. It wasn’t pretty, far from it, but it was still in the air which enabled the opposite team to, at least, make an attempt at an attack. And they continued like that, performing play after play in between the heated looks across the net, moving and all the while thinking about how to execute the next receive, attack and block.

Volleyball was a sport that demanded a lot of physical strength, but it was also a mind game where the patterns could pinpoint the best way to move forward. There was six players on each side of the net, but it seemed that between Tadashi and Terushima another game ensued, hinted by the way they kept looking and taunting each other with each play.

“Ew, dude, stop eye fucking each other during the game!” Futamata complained after he set the ball for Terushima to spike, just to Tadashi have it received with a slight arch of an eyebrow towards him.

Tadashi giggled as his team scored a point from his receive and proceeded to laugh at his and Terushima’s expenses. He particularly didn’t mind, laughing at Futamata’s protests with them, and besides, seeing Terushima’s blush darken and blend with the one due to exercising was the kind of opportunity he wouldn’t pass up on any day.

“And stop pushing your sleeves up!” Futamata continued, always glad to embarrass his friend. “It’s not even that hot and we all know you’re just trying to show off your arms to Yamaguchi, cut it off.”

Tadashi laughed as he rotated to the front row, letting his eyes deliberately roam over the hard planes of Terushima’s arms, beautiful and toned and filled with pretty art all over. “Well, I’m not complaining.” He shrugged.

“Hey guys!” Narita-san called out, preparing to serve. “Volleyball, now. Flirting, later.”

“Yes, sir!”

They played a handful of sets by the end of that day, only stopping when the sky was already completely dark, points of flickering lights scattered on the blanket of darkness. Tadashi felt spent, his muscles burning with the exertion, but above that, he was able to feel the joyful sentiment crawling through his skin, happy to be able to share the easygoing atmosphere of volleyball played with the ones he appreciated the most.

Tadashi drank hungrily from his water bottle, quenching his thirst before all of them had to clear the gym up. He felt Terushima approaching him, stopping by his side and reaching inside his bag for a towel to clean off his sweat. Tadashi let his eyes rest over the other, inspecting his profile freely while Terushima kept his eyes closed, towel running over smooth skin.

Terushima had an exquisite profile, but that wasn’t any news. Tadashi actually quite liked Terushima’s shaved and pushed back hairstyle, it exposed his angular jaw and the long column of his neck, highlighting his charming face. His pierced ears were also always on display and Tadashi let his eyes drift around the assorted jewelry, maybe prolonging his gaze at the one he did himself.

For all the clear masculine and well-built physique Terushima sported, there was still an almost imperceptible roundness to his face, softness filling his cheeks. In the end, he was all sorts of contradictions, and Tadashi was drawn to the puzzle, to the task of figuring out which feature he was supposed to put in which box.

“Did you have fun?” He asked, when it seemed Terushima was done drying himself off.

“Yeah, lots.” He answered, smiling broadly. “With the studio I can’t find much time to play anymore, but volleyball is so much fun! Thanks for inviting me to play.”

“Anytime.” Tadashi replied and the fondness on his tone, on his small smile was transparent. He knew that. He knew and didn’t care at all. “We can do this more, in the future.”

“I’d love that.”

“Hey, lovebirds, help me with this net over here.” Futamata called, effortlessly bursting the little bubble Tadashi and Terushima always seemed to wrap themselves in when they talked, tuning the world out.

With all of them helping, the gym was completely cleaned in a few quick minutes. They headed out soon after that, walking towards the bus stop where they needed to catch a bus back to Sendai. The night was chilly while the three men waited seated in the cold metal bench of the bus stop, making idle talk as the bus had yet to arrive.

Inside the bus, Futamata refused to third wheel for them, instantly shoving his earbuds inside his ears and blasting some music while he also tried to take a nap on the way back. Tadashi and Terushima sat side by side, still chatting as the dusky landscape of the night passed through the windows, city lights like flashes that briefly invaded the moving vehicle before disappearing, almost absent and unnoticed.

Halfway through the ride, silence fell between them. A comfortable, not an overbearing, one. There was no need to fill the silence with anything else, the presence of each other’s bodies pressed close on the bus seat was enough, it was all they could ask for in that night. Feeling beyond euphoric, Tadashi rested his head over Terushima’s shoulder and reached forward with his hand until his fingers were interlaced with Terushima’s, squeezing slightly. He smiled in blissful content when Terushima settled his body closer, pressing his lips against the top of Tadashi’s head in the promise of a kiss.

–

It was a usual day at the studio, quiet after both Yuuji and Takeharu were done with their appointments for the day. They were all hanging out at the studio’s back room, aimlessly talking and lazily planning bits of an event at the parlor, a flash day in the near future.

It was then, while pouring himself a cup of coffee, that Yamaguchi suggested it. During a lull in the conversation, he leaned back on his chair and spilled the words that would led Yuuji to a rollercoaster of a day, not that he was able to tell at that moment.

“There’s this new bar near my flat, do you guys want to check it out?” He nonchalantly asked. “This weekend, maybe?”

“Sure, why not?” Yuuji instantly agreed. “Sounds good.”

Yuuji glanced to the side at his friends, checking if Takeharu and Arata would join them as well. What he saw, though, was the two men sharing a suspicious look, before declining and coming up with some clearly lame excuse. They even added that Kazuma probably wouldn’t be interested as well, making up something on the spot about how busy he was. Yuuji knew what his friends were up to, it was too obvious to pass by unnoticed, but he chose not to comment on it.

If they didn’t want to tag along, Yuuji would just have to prove them that he wouldn’t jump Yamaguchi’s bones as soon as they were left alone. He was a grown-up after all.

He flicked his eyes to Yamaguchi, who was also observing with clever eyes the silent, yet meddlesome, exchange between the other two men. Yamaguchi was too perceptive to not understand what was going on as well, but for some reason, he too decided not to mention anything about it, turning his head to meet Yuuji’s eyes as he smiled, small and full of barely concealed mischief.

“Well, I guess it’s just me and Terushima, then.” Yamaguchi said, smile widening. “We’re gonna have some fun, right?”

Which led them to that moment.

They were bolder that night. Dangerously so. At the beginning of it, they were sitting facing each other, the table separating them. Barely a few minutes later, when Yuuji had went to fetch another beer for himself, instead of returning to his seat, he sat by Yamaguchi’s side.

The bar was nice, dimly lit like most, but smaller, the tables and booths all but shoved to the sides. The cramped feeling the place exhaled made everything a bit hotter and with Yuuji and Yamaguchi suddenly sitting so closely to each other, air also felt like a scarce element.

Sometime along the night, Yamaguchi could feel the hot palm of Yuuji’s hand placed on his upper thigh, so tempting and so addicting to have it there. Additionally, Yamaguchi had his arm over the back of the booth, long fingers teasingly brushing against Yuuji’s nape and his shaved short hair. They were speaking in hushed tones, whispers tingling against their ears as they tried to talk over the music that blasted inside the bar. Yuuji took notice of the warmness pooling on his stomach, an all too known feeling of longing towards physical touch. Judging by the way Yamaguchi breathed over their shared air, on the borderline of panting, he could tell that their audacious touching affected him as well.

The tingly sensation accompanied him throughout the entire night, worsening every time Yamaguchi so much as looked at him with those predatory honeyed eyes of his. It was further frustrating to be in public when Yamaguchi gazed with blatant hunger at his tongue piercing each time Yuuji said something, proceeding to run his nails over Yuuji’s scalp and bury his fingers in the already messy hair. It was inevitable, then, that Yuuji squeezed the thick thigh under his hand in response, grounding himself at the same time that he dug deeper.

It was heaven and hell all rolled into one when Yamaguchi shivered under his hands, inching closer.

“I’m going to get something to drink.” Yamaguchi told him, sultry, intoxicated voice curling around the words. “Do you want something?”

Yuuji glanced quickly at his almost empty bottle of beer and promptly asked for another. Unfortunately, Yamaguchi had to get up to get their drinks and Yuuji immediately missed his heated body pressed close. He watched him go and wrapped his lips around the bottle, swinging the rest of the bitter liquid down his throat, sighing deeply. He felt hot and light and tense and excited all mixed into one confusing feeling, floating in some unholy universe where he was able to touch and claim and be touched and claimed in return.

It was as if all the months leading to that, all the soft looks and aborted touching had reached its peak and now, the desire was overflowing sinfully, messily spilling over what was supposed to be a calm, unrushed sum of steps towards each other. Overall, it was as if passion was boiling, too oppressive and too fervent to be ignored anymore.

“Here.” Yamaguchi said, handing Yuuji’s beer bottle by the neck. Just as Yuuji took the bottle, Yamaguchi settled himself on the booth once again, accommodating himself against the side of Yuuji’s torso, fitting there like a puzzle piece.

“Thanks.”

They sipped their drinks for a few quiet moments, uselessly trying to cool their bodies down. Yuuji refused to look away from the intense look Yamaguchi was delivering him, jolts of pleasure running through his spine at the hand sweetly rubbing his knee.

“You have to stop doing that.” Yuuji announced, placing his bottle on the table.

“Doing what?”

“Looking at me like that.” He said honestly, Yamaguchi throwing his head back in laughter at his answer. “No, I’m serious. You do it all the time.”

“Of course I’m gonna look at you all the time.” Yamaguchi replied, smiling wickedly at him, lips curling at the ends.

“That smile right there.” Yuuji reached for Yamaguchi, tracing with his fingertips the remnants of a smirk. “It’s this thing you do all the time, even in the studio; you look at me with half-lidded eyes and give me this little smile. It seems cute and soft, but it’s actually sultry as hell.”

“Yeah?” He arched an eyebrow. “I’ll be more conscious of it in future.”

“Please be.” Yuuji nodded with decisiveness. “You have to stop because it’s ridiculously hot, ok? It’s hard for me to deal with because it’s too hot.”

“Oh, that’s how it is?” He rhetorically asked, somehow pressing his body a bit more against Yuuji’s, curling around him. “If we are talking maddening things we do, you got a big thing coming for you, buddy boy.”

“Oh, please enlighten me.”

“All those really quick and fleeting touches, full of platonic shit.” Yamaguchi protested. “And you do that because you love touching people and it’s almost like you are constantly touch starved, but they burn me and leave me yearning for more.”

Yuuji couldn’t look away, couldn’t care less about what was happening around them, letting the space of the bar fade into the back of his mind as he let himself fall deeper, almost being pulled by the strong hold Yamaguchi had on him. And Yamaguchi was ethereally pretty, his uneven freckles scattered around his cheeks and on the bridge of his nose, warm eyes focused solely on Yuuji, reddish lips so close and yet parted from his, plump from his own biting and slick with alcoholic beverages.

Moreover, Yuuji didn’t want to remove his hand either every time he touched the tanned, inviting skin. He wanted to linger and search for every little detail and he too was always yearning for more when it came down to Yamaguchi.

So if yearning was a constant between them, Yuuji just had to begin chasing.

Flickering his eyes between Yamaguchi’s lips and eyes, Yuuji knew he was giving into the feeling, the inescapable instant which they were, this whole time, moving towards.

They inched closer together, shortening the already scarce space between their lips with each suffocating breath. Yuuji let his eyes fall closed as his mouth met Yamaguchi’s, his lips closing over Yamaguchi’s upper lip and pulling it gently, just to release it seconds later. Yamaguchi nipped on his lower lip and Yuuji felt intoxicated at each brief touch. It was not enough, not a smidge of how starved he was, but they kept on kissing unhurriedly, connecting lips and breathing over each other just to part for fragments of seconds, and then kiss all over again.

Yuuji’s hands were resting on the slight curve of Yamaguchi’s hips, squeezing the supple flesh every time he felt like he needed to anchor himself. For his part, Yamaguchi placed his hands on Yuuji’s nape, all the while caressing him gently, his thumbs reaching forward to brush lovingly at his cheeks.

After a couple of minutes of that game of kissing softly and pulling away, Yuuji rested his forehead against Yamaguchi’s, opening his eyes after keeping them closed for too long. The yellowish lights of the bar blinded him for a second until Yamaguchi was holding his face between clammy palms, starring back at his hungry eyes.

This time, when they kissed, it was hot and wet and open-mouthed, tongues meeting and intertwining in between the kiss. Yuuji circled Yamaguchi’s waist to press their torsos flush against each other and Yamaguchi proceeded to hug him close through his neck. Yamaguchi kissed him with his whole body, torso curving towards him, mouth furiously chasing his lips, tongue flicking against Yuuji’s tongue piercing and one of his legs trying to move under the restraining table to climb over Yuuji’s lap. It was gorgeous and overwhelming. It was pure honey; sweet, sticky and addicting, the way Yamaguchi kissed.

They detached their mouths after a while, keeping their eyes closed and foreheads touching as their breathing mingled between them. “Wow.” Yuuji breathed, smiling happily. Yamaguchi smiled back and Yuuji felt his heart soaring.

“ _Fuck_.” Yamaguchi said, still a bit out of air. “That tongue piercing of yours.”

“Did you enjoyed it?”

“Hell yeah.” He answered, chuckling. “I plan on getting well acquainted with it, by the way.”

Yuuji caught Yamaguchi’s chin with one hand, bringing his face closer to press a firm kiss over his lips, too addicted already to go long without tasting them. “You won’t hear me complaining.”

Both of them reached for the drinks, turning to the cold liquids in order to soothe the atmosphere for a minute or two. Not that it was really effective, with their thighs touching and hands twitching and lips tingling with more yearning, hunger for more.

“Do you want to dance?” Yuuji asked, glancing at a free space in the bar where some college kids were dancing closely.

“Not really.” Yamaguchi replied. “Do you?”

“Nah.” He shrugged.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Yamaguchi inquired, tracing inconsistent patterns over Yuuji’s jeans.

“God yes.” He agreed instantly, finishing his beer bottle with quick gulps. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

They stumbled their way across the three blocks that separated the bar from Yamaguchi’s apartment, giggling comfortably at silly jokes with their arms thrown around each other. Each time one had to support the other when one struggled with footing. They were drunk, happily inebriated, but both were still conscious of their actions, aware that their hands were roaming and glad to be able to do it.

Somewhere along the way, Yamaguchi pushed Yuuji towards the dark corners of an alley, as if he was too starved to wait until they arrived in his flat. His mouth searched for Yuuji’s with desperation, pushing him against the wall as they kissed hungrily, tugging each other, squeezing hips, fumbling for hands. Yamaguchi was a bit taller than him, but Yuuji found that the slight difference in stature wasn’t something that disturbed the kiss. Instead, Yamaguchi was so damn easy to kiss, comfortable and familiar with his body pressed close, which only asserted how much Yuuji wanted that boy to choose him. Because he knew, he would choose Yamaguchi repeatedly if given the chance.

When they finally managed to make their way towards Yamaguchi’s place, it was with difficulty that the man was able to handle his lock, hands fumbling for his keys while Yuuji plastered himself to his back and kissed the long planes of his nape, pushing the strands of hair away. With the door unlocked, they stumbled inside in one big mess of limbs, catching their balance on the wall in the last second.

As they staggered on the apartment’s small genkan, Yamaguchi pulled Yuuji up by the collar of his shirt to press their mouths together once again, kicking his door shut. He was murmuring faint pleads of _“kiss me, c’mon, kiss me”_ over Yuuji’s lips and Yuuji was sure he was going to pass out at any given moment. It was immensely hard to take off their shoes and kiss at the same time, but seeing as it was unthinkable to stop making out with each other, they worked with it, kicking the sneakers off messily.

“Bedroom, please.” Yamaguchi said once they managed to get rid of their shoes, tugging Yuuji by the belt loops on his jeans further into the flat. They were awkwardly stumbling around, refusing to stop kissing for barely a second, hips bumping against the corners of tables and arms banging against doorframes. Their teeth clashed as they giggled over those small incidents, kisses getting sloppier and playful between all the fumbling. Fortunately, the apartment was a tiny one, so they quickly found their way inside Yamaguchi’s bedroom.

They stood in the middle of the room, kissing languidly, resuming a gentle pace of their moving lips, tongues caressing each other with long, devoted touches. Yuuji felt Yamaguchi’s hands dropping lower on his body, curious hands finally resting over his butt as he kneaded the flesh. Yuuji hummed against Yamaguchi’s mouth, the sound spilling between the infinitesimal cracks in their kiss.

With that, they slowly started to rub their groins against each other, occasional moans and whimpers escaping at each pleasurable friction over growing erections. The fire burning beneath their clothes were barely concealed as they panted hot air over each other’s mouths, breaking the endless kisses just to dive back again.

Yamaguchi once more slid a hand through Yuuji’s hair, gripping where the strands were longer and pulling until their faces were parted. He stared at Yuuji with dark eyes, foggy arousal dancing in his pretty iris as he breathed with heavy intakes of breath. Then, he leaned forward and licked over the outline of Yuuji’s parted lips, getting saliva on his chin and mouth and making Yuuji chase the movement, almost stumbling forward. And then, he did it again, carrying on with his kittenishly licking. Yuuji moaned loudly at that, the sound cutting through the former silent room. Yamaguchi seemed bent on getting more vocal reactions from Yuuji, so he kept at it, Yuuji releasing each hazy sound, one after the other.

“-Dashi.” He pleaded, slipping into the intimacy that he longed for. “ _Please._ ”

Yamaguchi groaned at that, tugging Yuuji with him until he was sitting on his bed, pulling Yuuji on top of him until they were both laying down. Their mouths met like magnets, fatefully moving together. Yuuji held Yamaguchi’s face as they kissed, hands holding his cheeks, sliding into his hair and tugging playfully, his body arching towards the other.

Yuuji, then, kneeled on the soft matters to pull his shirt over his head, getting rid of it. Yamaguchi was also taking his own shirt off, sitting halfway to be able to properly remove it. He gazed at Yamaguchi, taking in the sight of his lean torso, body adorned with slight and intricate muscles. And then there were his nipples, hardened, dark rosy and pierced and almost sluttish in the way that Yamaguchi proudly displayed them for Yuuji’s eyes to ogle.

He was so lost on his own thoughts and wonderment for Yamaguchi’s beauty that he was late to realize that the other man also regarded him with greedy eyes, running them through the hard and defined planes of his abs. Hands soon replaced his eyes, fingers running up through heated skin until he was squeezing both of Yuuji’s pecks with his perverse, teasing fingers.

“You would look good with nipple piercings.” He purred, voice hoarse, nails scrapping lightly at the meaty flesh, one thumb quickly rubbing one of his nipples. Yuuji buckled his hips forward involuntarily, searching for friction.

Yuuji laid them down once more, running his thumb over Yamaguchi’s lower lip before kissing him again, shoving his tongue inside and exploring every possible corner. Yamaguchi bit on his lips, caging him for a second or two, whimpering against his mouth when Yuuji thrusted his hips down against his. Yuuji proceeded to kiss down his neck and shoulders, sucking faint marks on his tanned, already marked skin. When he reached Yamaguchi’s torso, Yuuji gave special attention to his nipples, playing with one while his mouth closed over the other, sucking and licking. Yamaguchi wailed at the contact, arching his back and pressing harder against Yuuji’s mouth. The cold touch of his tongue piercing against the warm skin drove Yamaguchi desperate for more, moans spilling more freely, and Yuuji was addicted to the way he let him trace his body with his lips.

When it became too hot, they quickly got rid of their jeans as well, erections tenting the front of their boxers. They moved together, both of them reaching for each other as they palmed their dicks over the soft fabric, moaning loud in unison. It was astonishing to feel the weight of Yamaguchi’s hard cock on his hand as well as the warmth of Yamaguchi’s hand on his own shaft. He could have come like that, feeling Yamaguchi’s thumb running over the wet head of his dick, but he felt like it wasn’t enough, Yuuji wanted more.

“Yuu- ah, Yuuji!” Yamaguchi chanted and Yuuji moaned with him. Listening his name falling from Yamaguchi’s mouth like that made him so aroused, he had to bite on his lip to hold himself back for a moment.

“ _Shit_.” He cursed, still moving his hips with Yamaguchi’s hand holding him. “What do you want to do? Huh, Tadashi, what can I do for you?”

Yamaguchi breathed hard through his nose as Yuuji leaned down to kiss the juncture where his shoulder met his neck, sucking softly. “Can you… _fuck_ \- can you fuck my thighs, please?”

Yuuji paused on his ministrations, thinking about Yamaguchi’s supple thighs caging and squeezing his cock as he moved. It was too tempting, too hot and Yuuji was speechless at that naughty prospect.

“It’s just…” Yamaguchi started, sounding a bit apologetic. “I’m so lazy to go all the way right now and… hum, I’m sorry.”

"Hey." Yuuji paused his movements, looking at Yamaguchi and holding his face, tone turning serious. "Don't you apologize for that, ok? You don't have to feel sorry over anything. Thigh fucking sounds damn perfect, I am almost shooting my load just thinking about it. God knows how many times I spent ogling those thighs of yours."

He squeezed Yamaguchi’s hips to comfort him and Yamaguchi laughed brightly, nodding eagerly and pulling Yuuji down for a kiss, messy and rough and full of spit but charged with heavy fondness as well.

Finally, they got rid of their underwear, fully naked in front of each other. Yamaguchi twisted his body up towards his bedside table, rummaging inside a drawer and pulling a half-full bottle of lube. Yuuji marveled at Yamaguchi’s nude body, how his curves were gentle and his skin, smooth. He looked both holy and profane, limbs tender and cock hard.

They laid down of their sides, facing each other as Yamaguchi spread the lube on his palm before closing his hand around Yuuji’s hood. He stroked the shaft with rhythmic movements, getting Yuuji to sigh in pleasure and moan at the firm hold.

“Gorgeous.” Yamaguchi whispered, inching closer to press a small kiss on Yuuji’s mouth.

“Dashi baby, it’s good, it’s all good.” He gasped, chasing the thrill Yamaguchi caused on him. “Can I?”

“Yes, c’mon.” Yamaguchi breathed, turning around so that Yuuji could slip his cock through his parted thighs.

Yuuji sighed when Yamaguchi closed his legs, squeezing the thighs together. He started to move slowly, thrusting his hips forward. They both moaned when Yuuji’s dick touched Yamaguchi’s, the sensitive skin jolting in pleasure. At one point, Yamaguchi reached his hand back to hold Yuuji’s ass, pulling him forward as he pushed his own ass back, forcing him to quicken his movements. Yuuji breathed hot air over Yamaguchi’s nape, getting closer to orgasming each time Yamaguchi moaned his first name so openly. When both of them were struggling to properly breathe, chasing their releases, Yuuji sneaked a hand forward to pump Yamaguchi’s dick in time with his thrusts.

When Yamaguchi came it was with gasped moans spilling one after the other, blissful sounds cut by his harsh intakes of breath. He arched his back and Yuuji felt his cock pulsing with the intensity of his orgasm, cum spattering on his stomach. Yuuji followed him soon after, still fucking the supple thighs, groaning when his orgasm hit him, mouth open in pleasure resting against Yamaguchi’s tattooed shoulder as his cum mixed itself with Yamaguchi’s on his torso.

As they tried to catch their breaths after the high, Yamaguchi messily cleaned his body with a shirt and turned his body, snuggling close to Yuuji. He yawned; sleep trying to secure his body after the tiring activities. The previous drinks they drank paired up with sex made both of them sleepy and Yuuji gathered Yamaguchi’s body close as they made their lazy way beneath the covers.

When Yuuji once again ran his thumb over Yamaguchi’s lips, the younger man smiled happily, softly kissing the tip of his finger. Yuuji smiled back, beyond content to have Yamaguchi’s body pressed close, his smile directed at him.

“You’re so pretty.” He whispered privately, caressing his freckled cheeks.

Yamaguchi gave him a shy grin at that, kissing Yuuji again, their lips slotting together and barely moving, just feeling the pressure of each other. “You’re pretty.” He countered.

Yuuji laughed, hugging him close and closing his eyes as Yamaguchi turned out his bedroom’s light. He felt Yamaguchi tangling their legs together under the covers and smiled to himself. It was like that, embracing each other and smelling of alcohol and sex, that they fell asleep, refusing to be anywhere else but at that bed, warmed by that body.

–

Tadashi wasn’t a morning person. If he didn’t set an alarm for him, Tadashi would usually sleep past his schedule, only waking up when his body deemed that he had got the amount of rest necessary, slumber leaving his body in calm waves until he blinked his eyes open. The countless memories of his mother barging inside his room to wake him up on the occasion that he forgot to set an alarm were still fresh, as well as when his teammates had to shook him awake during training camps.

And that didn’t change as he grew up.

Therefore, it was surprising when Tadashi realized he was the first one to wake up on the next day. Maybe it was some kind of instinct or nerves, or maybe it was the overly warm temperature beneath the covers, the welcome, but unfamiliar, press of a body against his. When he glanced at the clock on his bedside table with sleepy eyes, though, Tadashi realized it was almost two in the afternoon, his blinds blocking most of the afternoon light.

So maybe Terushima was just like him, a late sleeper. Speaking of him, Terushima was still asleep, a muscular arm thrown around Tadashi’s waist, hugging him close.

It was incredible to have Terushima’s body fitting against his own so perfectly, but as consciousness slowly returned to him, Tadashi started to panic a little bit. They had engaged in sexual intercourse the night before, Terushima had fucked his thighs and Tadashi had loved every second of it. He was still mind blown by how amazing everything felt. In the end, Terushima was like that, he took ordinary things and elevated them until no one else could compare. No one kissed or touched him quite like Terushima did and Tadashi wasn’t sure he could ever let go of that feeling. He didn’t want to, he wanted to hold onto it until it was craved in his heart, a part of him.

However, in that moment, Tadashi felt overwhelmed by the force and depth of his emotions. What he thought it was a simple crush on his boss slash friend, it was actually a full-blown love, already carved inside his chest and sheltered by fondness and adoration.

He carefully lifted Terushima’s arm up and proceeded to get up, nakedly making his way towards his bathroom. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and was torn between sighing and grinning. Tadashi didn’t regret anything they did, not for a second, but maybe it would have been better to talk about their mutual feelings before fucking. Sometimes, he contradicted his own quirks and jumped into things without really analyzing them first, which made Tadashi wonder if that was the result of being close friends with crazy, reckless people like Shouyou or Tobio.

Withdrawing his eyes from his reflection, Tadashi swiftly did his morning routine, washing his face and brushing his teeth to get rid of some of the dizziness before he would have to undoubtedly face everything. Then, he quickly got dressed on a simple shirt and shorts. Before leaving the bathroom, he watered the plants he kept there, noting that some of them needed to be fertilized soon.

He left the bathroom and headed to his kitchen, figuring he could prepare a late breakfast or some sort of brunch for them. He started by boiling some water to brew his much-needed coffee and moved to his fridge, analyzing his groceries in order to decide what they could eat. He didn’t have as much as he hoped, so Tadashi opted for a simple oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, as well as a side of other various sliced fruit. He also had leftover miso soup, deciding to heat it up, not familiar with Terushima’s breakfast eating habits. Finally, Tadashi wondered if he should make a quick trip to the bakery down the street to pick up some fresh bread he knew for a fact Terushima enjoyed, but before he could make a decision on that, Terushima walked out of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily and wearing his boxers and loose t-shirt from the day before.

“You left me there by myself.” He said, a pout on his dry lips. Tadashi couldn’t help but let a smile spread on his lips, Terushima was too cute for him to handle.

“Good morning.” He replied. The water had reached the desired temperature and Tadashi divided it equally, moving to brew his coffee while Terushima’s green tea infused inside the kettle.

“Morning.” Terushima said back, resting his shoulder against the doorframe as he observed Tadashi. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Don’t worry, everything’s almost ready.” He answered over his shoulder, feeling Terushima’s assessing gaze on him. “You can sit at the table, if you want.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Tadashi felt his face heating up at the softly spoken words, glad to have his back turned to Terushima as he checked the oatmeal. When everything was ready, both of them took the food and dishes to the table, finally sitting down across each other.

“Sorry it’s not much.” Tadashi said, nibbling on a piece of strawberry.

“It’s perfect, no need to worry.” Terushima answered, a reassuring smile on his lips as he ate a spoonful of the oatmeal.

After that, they continued eating their breakfast in peaceful silence, spoons and chopsticks softly hitting porcelain. It was with a smile that Tadashi saw Terushima adding a teaspoon of honey to his mug and stirring, glad to have placed it on the table. Although the somewhat serene atmosphere between them, Tadashi was still panicking about what to say and how to say it. Terushima was too precious for him, and Tadashi was afraid to screw things up and chase him away. Finally, he could tell that Terushima seemed just as jittery as he did.

Overall, it was strange to be in that situation. In Tadashi’s mind, Terushima was always accompanied by comfort and warmth, not antsy thoughts and insecurity.

When they finished eating their breakfast, they moved to the kitchen to clean up. They barely had to say anything, it was moving around each other with harmony that Terushima started doing the dishes and Tadashi proceeded to dry and stow them.

“Yama?” Terushima suddenly called him, breaking the silence that reigned. He was washing Tadashi’s bowls with great care and he refused to meet his eyes, looking down at the sink.

“Yeah?” Tadashi answered, ignoring the longing to hear his first name uttered by Terushima again, so sweetly on the tip of his tongue during the previous night.

“Can we…” He started, sounding unsure. “Can we talk?”

“Uh… sure.”

Terushima took a deep breath through his nose and released it through his mouth, opening the faucet to let the water run through the dishes. Even though he asked for it, Terushima remained silent for a few moments, probably grounding himself.

“Uh, I had this whole speech planned you know?” He begun, and Tadashi could tell he wanted to run his hand through his hair – a common, nervous habit –, but he couldn’t, since his hands were wet. “I was going to buy you flowers or some romantic shit like that and probably surprise you one day at the studio, I don’t really know, I didn’t think it through too much… You are really intimidating, did you know that?”

He laughed, glancing quickly to the side before diverting his eyes down once again. Tadashi didn’t dare speak, he wanted to hear everything Terushima had to say and it was already difficult to do so with the pounding of his deafening heart.

“But none of that matters anymore, because I didn’t do any of it.” He chuckled to himself. “You are always like that, by the way, when I think I have you figured out, you completely surprise me and I just keep getting pulled in deeper. Looking back at it, I should have just asked you out on a date and try to do things properly for once. But I never really played by the rules, right? I was never good at following social standards.”

A chuckle fell from Tadashi’s smiling lips and, this time, Terushima looked at him and didn’t look away, turning the running water off and facing him. They were standing close, but it felt like there was an abysm between them, for they weren’t touching yet.

“I’m rambling… I’m rambling and I’m not getting anywhere.” Terushima grinned at him, warm and fond and everything beautiful. “What I’m trying to say is that I am so happy every time I’m with you. You are a breath of fresh air in my lungs and I don’t want to exhale.”

“You are so sappy.” Tadashi whispered, drops of joyful tears polling at his eyes.

Terushima laughed lowly, reaching a hand up to caress Tadashi’s cheek. Tadashi leaned into his touch, tilting his head slightly as he smiled euphorically.

“I like you.” Terushima said and Tadashi almost stumbled forward to his arms. “I like you so much and I’ve known that for so long… And, and after last night I feel like the luckiest man on this planet for having shared that moment with you and I never want to stop kissing or touching you. After last night, I might as well tell you that I’m in love with you.”

And Tadashi couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He threw himself against Terushima and kissed him, letting the pure feeling of joy wash over him, all insecurities flying out of the window. He was smiling so wide against Terushima’s lips that the kiss was a weird one, but both of them were grinning and giggling and it was beyond perfect. Tadashi laid peck after peck on his lips as they hugged each other, breaking the overbearing abysm of a confession.

The most shocking of it all was all the pretty and rambled words Terushima had said to him. Tadashi kept falling for him and it wasn’t even funny anymore. Terushima could have simply said _“let’s date!”_ and Tadashi would have been happy all the same, but instead he came with a storm of messy words and truthful feelings and wasn’t that the cutest thing ever?

“I’m not nearly as suave as you are, but I’ll say this.” Tadashi said, barely separating his face from Terushima’s. “You are the kindest person I’ve ever met and you are so sweet to the point that I was gone by week one of working together. I’m not even kidding, I’m serious here!” He laughed when Terushima looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

“So you just came and took my heart and pocketed it. It was yours so quickly and I didn’t even care, I knew you would take care of it for me.” He circled his arms around Terushima’s waist and placed a kiss on his cheek, knowing that now he could do it without restraining himself. “I am so far gone for you and I don’t know the way back. I don’t want to know it. I just want to be with you now.”

Then, Terushima kissed him, tongue curling against his with the same tending touches that were still fresh on Tadashi’s mind from the night before. Slowly, Tadashi was backed against the cold surface of his fridge, but he paid almost no attention to it, the body pressing against his own was pure heat, inviting and all his.

“I’m so in love with you.” He whispered against Terushima’s lips, grinning like a fool and pulling him forward to another kiss.

“I’m so happy right now.” Terushima said, chocking on laughter as he squeezed Tadashi’s hips and laid kisses all over his face, on his soft cheeks, on his pinkish lips, on his pretty freckles, over his closed eyes and on his forehead, lovingly brushing his bangs to the side. “Does this mean that you are my boyfriend now?”

Tadashi laughed, glad to see that the dork in Terushima was as present as ever. “Yes, that’s what it means.”

“Heh.” He gave a little elated laugh. “My boyfriend Tadashi.”

“I like the sound of that.” He replied, sneakily pushing his hands beneath Terushima’s shirt to feel his skin against his fingers. “The way you say my name.”

“I do too. I like it a lot.”

“Yuuji.”

“Dashi.”

–

They were all hanging out on the studio’s back room again, after one hard day of work and when the parlor was already closed for the day. Yuuji was enjoying a warm cup of tea paired with a muffin, Takeharu and Arata drinking coffee and aimlessly fiddling with their phones as they made small talk. Yamaguchi was by the counter preparing a toast with jam for him to eat together with his coffee.

Yuuji couldn’t help but smile largely when Yamaguchi looked at him over his shoulder, directing a private smile at him. They were dating for only three days already, but only now, it was sinking in that what they had was a real relationship. Yuuji didn’t know what to do with the knowledge that he could now hold Yamaguchi’s hand, take him out on dates and invite him over to his flat, kiss him on his tiny couch and call him all sorts of pet names, like baby and honey and sweetheart and any other sweet thing that popped up in his mind.

It was everything he wished for and then some.

He playfully winked at Yamaguchi while sipping his tea, which made the younger man giggle into his palm and blush cutely. His boyfriend was adorable and Yuuji was so in love.

“Okay, spill it.” Takeharu said, blocking his phone and placing the device on the table. When Yuuji looked at him, Arata was also watching the nonstop exchanging of glances with a pleased expression. “I probably already know what this is about but I can feel Yuuji dying to say it, so please, spill it.”

Yamaguchi laughed, bringing his plate to the table. Before he could sit down, though, Yuuji got up and circled his waist from behind, resting his chin over his boyfriend’s shoulder. He smiled cheekily and kissed Yamaguchi’s jaw, taking great pleasure at the stunned look his friends supported.

“Tadashi and I are dating now.” He announced smugly.

“Finally!” Arata screamed, slapping the table. “Thank god, they finally figured their shit out!”

“Months, Yuuji, _months!_ ” Takeharu complained. “That’s how long I had to put up with you pining after Yamaguchi.”

“And he was always whining about how pretty Yamaguchi is and how much he wanted to kiss him and a bunch of other love-struck shit we had to listen to _all the time!_ ” Arata supplied.

“Hey, you two!” Yuuji protested, ashamed that Yamaguchi was listening to all of that.

“You are cute.” Yamaguchi said instead, turning on his hold so that he could kiss him properly, holding his face on his hands.

“Hey, stop that!” Takeharu scolded them, throwing a crumpled napkin at them that barely did anything to disturb their kiss. “This is working hours, you know! I want discipline in this studio!”

At that, Yuuji and Yamaguchi stopped kissing just to laugh at Takeharu’s theatrical outrage. As they sat down on their respective chairs, Yuuji threw the napkin back at him, but he swiftly dodged it and it fell to the ground.

“Oh, now that they are a couple, we’ll have to deal with them either being disgustingly in love or eye fucking all the time!” Arata said with horror, panicky looking at Takeharu.

“Oh my god, you guys are forbidden to display your sickening love here, okay? It’s forbidden.”

Yamaguchi laughed as Yuuji protested back, claiming that he would do no such thing, ignoring the stupid rule. After teasing them some more, though, both Takeharu and Arata congratulated them and said they were happy they finally got together.

As Takeharu announced that they were hitting the bar that day to celebrate and that he didn’t care that it was a Tuesday, proceeding to call Kazuma as well, Yamaguchi felt a hand finding his under the table, fingers lacing together until he squeezed them close and smiled at the boy that made his heart flutter. It was a good day.

–

_[11.07am] i’m dating yuuji now_

_[11.10am] about time._

_[11.10am] yeah (_ _｡_ _◕_ _‿_ _◕_ _｡_ _)_

_[11.11am] I’m happy for you._

_[11.11am] Tetsu is too._

_[11.12am] (~˘_ _▾_ _˘_ _)~_

–

The yellowish beams of light filtered through the cheap blinds of Yuuji’s room, most of the space bathed in the subtle, gentle morning light. Yuuji groaned in his sleep, almost awake but still clinging into the remnants of his sleep. He turned and buried his face on his pillow, breathing against the clean fabric.

Even when he tried to get back to sleep it seemed that his body was satisfied already, Yuuji slowly blinking open his heavy eyes. He glanced to the side at Tadashi’s sleeping form, mouth slightly open, dark hair messily spread on the pillow as he hugged Yuuji’s arm close to his chest. Yuuji smiled lazily, moving his legs under the covers to properly face his boyfriend with his arm still caged in his hold.

For a few moments, the warm light illuminating the room diminished, a cloud blocking the rays of sunshine in its movement, and Yuuji wondered if it would rain later in the day.

He could have spent countless minutes there appreciating the uncomplicated beauty that was Tadashi, how breathtaking he was in the plainest of situations. But Yuuji was never a man that got satisfied at just watching, so he inched closer and placed a kiss on Tadashi’s cheek, relishing the soft skin against his lips.

Tadashi mumbled something intelligible and released Yuuji’s arm just to hug his waist instead, fitting his body against his boyfriend’s. Yuuji chuckled fondly, beginning to stroke Tadashi’s hair and smiling in content when Tadashi hummed in pleasure. They stayed like that for a while, Yuuji watching the dust flakes dancing in the air and Tadashi persisting in the middle ground of being awake and asleep.

After a while, though, Yuuji turned his eyes back to the boy in his arms, running a finger over the long line of his nose and laughing when it scrunched up. Then, Yuuji kissed Tadashi, a quiet and unrushed play with his lips. Yuuji pulled Tadashi’s lips into his mouth to lightly suck on them and let his tongue tease the seam of his lips.

“I don’t want to wake up.” Tadashi mumbled half-incoherently, eyes still closed.

There were freckles on Tadashi’s eyelids and they were the most precious things Yuuji had ever seen in his entire life. He moved to kiss both of his eyelids, moving away to smile at Tadashi’s relaxed face.

It was with a delighted surprise that Yuuji watched Tadashi search for his lips, chasing the affection with closed eyes, barely awake but wanting to keep kissing. He wasn’t about to let his boy yearning for something he could have all the time, so Yuuji met him halfway, keeping his eyes half lidded in order to be able to observe Tadashi.

They continued with slow and unhurried kissing, meeting lips and tips of tongues until Tadashi was completely pulled out of his sleep, opening his eyes in the middle of a kiss to gaze into Yuuji’s eyes. He smiled and Yuuji felt his lips moving against his, feeling his smile with his mouth.

He placed one peck on his lips and pulled away. “Morning.”

“Morning, babe.” Tadashi replied, purring and nuzzling against Yuuji’s collarbones.

When they eventually got out of bed, it was several minutes later, after loads of slow kissing on a Sunday morning, when they had nowhere to be and could bask for as long as they wanted in the warmth of each other’s embrace. Yuuji went to the bathroom as Tadashi moved to the kitchen, getting started on their breakfasts.

Yuuji decided to forgo a shirt that morning, moving to the kitchen dressed only in loose grey sweatpants. His flat was a warm one and him being shirtless increased the possibilities of him being attacked by Tadashi’s roaming hands, which were a big plus. Tadashi was comfortably moving around in the kitchen, his phone playing some indie songs that he hummed in sync and swayed his hips to. He wore one of Yuuji’s shirt and since they were about the same size, Tadashi taller but Yuuji bulkier, the shirt fit him nicely, loose of his arms but not really covering past his waist, peachy ass displayed sinfully in dark blue boxers.

“ _They’re so pretty it hurts, I’m not talking ‘bout boys, I’m talking ‘bout girls, they’re so pretty with their button-up shirts_.” Tadashi sang, throwing his head from side to side, as he sliced a kiwi.

“You’re not talking about boys, huh?” Yuuji asked, approaching him and hugging him from behind, hands sneaking around his waist as the song kept on being played. He kissed Tadashi’s shoulder over the t-shirt and moved to the juncture between his shoulder and neck, finally placing one last kiss on the side of his neck, under his pierced ear. Tadashi was a piece of art and unlike those in a museum, Yuuji could kiss and touch him as much as he wanted. “What do you think your _boyfriend_ would have to say about that?”

Tadashi giggled, squirmed pleasantly on his hold. He let go of his knife and turned to face Yuuji, smiling teasingly at him. “Well, you can tell my boyfriend that he’s very sexy and kind and gorgeous and talented and attractive.”

“And pretty?” Yuuji played along.

“Yes, pretty too. So pretty it hurts. Definitely the prettiest.” Tadashi answered, pulling on Yuuji’s pouting lips with his fingers.

“No, that’s you, sweetheart.”

“Ooh, smooth.” He teased, pressing his torso against Yuuji’s. “I can’t help that lesbian songwriting is better than gay one. You can tell my boyfriend I’m still gay as hell.”

“Good to know, I’ll pass it on.”

“Thank you, kind man. Let me reward you.” He joked, pulling Yuuji to him to join their mouths, tongue flicking inside his mouth and one hand sneakily wandering on his abs and travelling up until he could softly tug the newish nipple piercing Yuuji had gotten. Yuuji almost whimpered at the touch.

“This boyfriend of yours is very lucky.” Yuuji said, pressing Tadashi against the counter, breakfast forgotten.

“I’m the one who’s lucky, actually.”

“I doubt it.”

Tadashi shushed him, bringing him back to another kiss. Tadashi’s playlist of lesbian artists was still playing in the back while their bodies pressed close, tiny mosquitoes landed on the forgotten fruits and morning light made everything turn golden. Tadashi looked at Yuuji’s eyes and saw sunlight dancing in his orbs, saw how Yuuji looked at him with unabashed adoration and, in the simple environment of a morning, Tadashi fell in love again. Yuuji looked at Tadashi and saw light illuminating his skin, saw how it glowed under his touch and there, on his kitchen holding the boy he adored, Yuuji fell in love again.

“I love you.” One whispered.

“Love you too.” It was whispered back.

Both Yuuji and Tadashi had it pretty good, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> yes i wrote 20k of teruyama fluff  
> thanks for reading, i hope you liked this! leave a comment if you want and drop a kudo if you feel like it, thank u! ♡
> 
> follow me on twitter, i write some stuff over there! [@singlecelledorg](https://twitter.com/singlecelledorg)  
> if you love both tadashi and yuuji like i do, i have spotify playlists for both of them :)  
> [tadashi](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72aXRTa6q7S8YiyvKDhxtf?si=QEs6JPf3TlC--LkMnAuang) [yuuji](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yCRCWGNprZ3uTITq0PLsY?si=TJHj27g9RNqslSLYTArTCw)
> 
> random side note: there's no "right" way to behave on a tattoo session, i just based yamaguchi on how i usually am when i am getting tattooed. also, speak up and make sure to be comfortable when doing a tattoo! don't be shy on what you want and the tattoo artists will be happy to hear you :) that's all, kids! take care ♡♡♡
> 
> edit 200716: i wrote a small sequel for this. you can read it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25302715)


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